Exploratory study of French healthcare workers' experiences of anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Background: Anosognosia or lack of insight is a common feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and associated disorders. It is an impairment in the ability to recognize the disease and related symptoms. Anosognosia is associated among patients with poor compensatory strategies, behavioral disorders, apathy and caregiver burden.

[Recognition of caregivers by people with severe neurocognitive disorders].

The recognition of caregivers working with elderly people with neuro-evolutionary diseases is a fact. The caregivers interviewed for this study reported that they felt recognized and identified by these elderly people, who were considered to be prosopagnosic. The caregivers were even able to show that this recognition was possible, even during changes in appearance.

[Conscience des déficits dans le cadre de la maladie d'Alzheimer : représentations et vécu des professionnels soignants].

La qualité des soins apportés aux personnes vivant avec la maladie d'Alzheimer (MA) dépend en partie de la capacité des professionnels à déterminer le degré de conscience de la maladie chez les patients. La présente recherche s'est intéressée aux représentations des soignants concernant la conscience des troubles chez les résidents d'établissements de soins de longue durée présentant un diagnostic de MA. Le pouvoir prédicteur de l'anosognosie sur le fardeau soignant a également été examiné.

[Restraint in geriatrics: France's backwardness].

Passive physical restraint methods in geriatrics were defined at the start of this century, accompanied by recommendations relating to their use and more recently by legislation. Despite the frequency of these measures of restraint, there are few French publications on this subject. It seems that this practice varies according to the geriatric establishments and prevails in hospital more than in nursing home.

Evaluation of apathy among institutionalized older persons: Its mediating role between cognitive functioning and lack of awareness.

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to determine the directions of the relationships between apathy, cognitive deficits and lack of awareness.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-one older persons living in nursing homes, aged between 65 and 99 years old, participated in the study. Cognitive functioning, autonomy, depressive and anxious symptoms, general self-efficacy, self-esteem and apathy were evaluated through tests and questionnaires.

[Updates on anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease].

Impaired awareness increases dependency of patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and caregivers' burden but remains insufficiently evaluated in clinical practice. The numerous conceptualisations of this symptomatology (anosognosia, denial, insight…) have only a slight impact on the three main assessment methodologies which are: the patient-caregiver discrepancy; the clinician rating of patients' awareness of illness; and the prediction of performance discrepancy methods. Nevertheless, most of evaluating tools are not validated yet, in particular regarding the clinician rating, leading to contrasted results.

Self-Concept and Temporality in Institutionalized Elders.

The current investigation examined the self-concept and temporality in institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly. Sixty-two participants divided into two groups according to their place of residence participated in the study. The analysis focused on psychopathological scales, on self-concept assessment, its positive or negative valence, its development and the time perspective.

[The immediate impact of Covid-19 infection and the resulting lockdown on nursing home residents].

Introduction: Following the Covid-19 epidemic affecting 76 of the 97 residents (78.3 %) in a French nursing home, we assessed the impact of this cluster period on the physical and psycho-cognitive health of the residents, expecting in particular to observe effects that were dependent on their state of cognitive-behavioural dependence.

Methods: We retained twenty-two variables, 5 relating to demographic data, 6 to the specific care linked to Covid-19 infection, 6 to somatic pathologies and psycho-behavioural disturbances before the epidemic and 5 to the period following it.

Apathy Is the Best Dimension to Consider for Awareness Assessment in Alzheimer's Disease.

Previous studies have reported the major role of apathy in awareness assessment among Alzheimer's patients using the patient-caregiver discrepancy method, whatever the awareness dimension assessed. Using the Apathy Evaluation Scales among other awareness scales, we report that apathy is the sole awareness dimension distinguishing healthy controls (25), mild (57) and moderate-to-moderately-severe (11) Alzheimer's patients. A linear regression showed that the Mini-Mental State Examination score used as a risk factor for non-awareness was the only factor associated with awareness of apathy and was the best predictor.

[Unawareness of deficits in dementia and its impact on the caregiver-patient relationship: a literature review].

To date, few studies have focused on the impact of anosognosia on patients' and caregivers' daily lives. However, in more general studies, anosognosia has been linked to increased burden of family caregivers, refusals to receive care, and increased caregivers' psycho-behavioral disorders. However, these studies did not specify the nature of the impact of anosognosia on these manifestations, often attributed to cognitive impairment which is more representative of the disease.

Adaptation of a short-form nostalgia scale: convergent and divergent validity in a sample of French elders.

Nostalgia is an efficient coping strategy that helps elders overcome major life transitions. To better explore the protective functions of nostalgia, we set out to adapt a short-form nostalgia scale to French elders and examine its convergent and divergent validity in terms of self-esteem, depression, and wellbeing. Participants were 175 institutionalized French elders.

Modelling Awareness in Alzheimer's Disease.

This study aimed to provide a model of awareness in Alzheimer's disease using the stage of the disease as a risk factor. Awareness was assessed using three methods (patient-caregiver discrepancy, prediction-performance discrepancy, clinical rating). Twenty-five healthy control subjects and sixty-one patients participated, with measures of cognition, apathy, depression, and awareness.

Effects of depression and cognitive impairment on quality of life in older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder: Results from a multicenter study.

Background: Little is known about the respective effects of depression and cognitive impairment on quality of life among older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Methods: We used data from the Cohort of individuals with Schizophrenia Aged 55-years or more (CSA) study, a large multicenter sample of older adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (N = 353). Quality of life (QoL), depression and cognitive impairment were assessed using the Quality of Life Scale (QLS), the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and the Mini-Mental State Examination, respectively.

Fibromyalgia patients make scarce reference to pain in self-defining memories.

Objective: Self-defining memories (SDMs) are vivid, emotionally intense and well-rehearsed autobiographical memories that provide fundamental information about one's cognitive affective motivational representation of self. Exploring SDMs in fibromyalgia (FM) is of interest for understanding the psychopathology of this disorder and improving clinical interventions. Our aim was to compare patients and healthy controls (HC) on SDM characteristics.

A Meta-Analysis of Autobiographical Memory Studies in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder.

Meta-analyses and reviews on cognitive disorders in schizophrenia have shown that the most robust and common cognitive deficits are found in episodic memory and executive functions. More complex memory domains, such as autobiographical memory (AM), are also impaired in schizophrenia, but such impairments are reported less often despite their negative impact on patients' outcome. In contrast to episodic memory, assessed in laboratory tasks, memories of past personal events are much more complex and directly relate to the self.

Depression, anxiety and personality dimensions in female first-degree relatives of alcohol-dependent probands.

A total of 136 with or without first-degree relatives with alcohol dependence were compared according to lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders and personality dimensions. Family history positive women showed significant higher prevalence rates of depression and agoraphobia, and exhibited lower scores on Reward Dependence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness dimensions.

Alcohol dependence in women: difficulty of its assessment in general practice.

Background: In France, women represent approximately 20% of alcohol-dependent subjects. Although general practitioners (GPs) are often these women's first medical contact, GPs may be reluctant to probe for alcohol dependence.

Method: In this context, in 1996 and 2006 we conducted a cross-sectional survey using self-completion postal questionnaires sent to all GPs in a French département (administrative area), with the aim to explore and to compare after a ten-year time lapse, expectations and relational difficulties in managing alcohol dependence in women.