Analysis of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in long-term care facilities in the pre-vaccination period.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected individuals residing in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs), necessitating tailored strategies to manage outbreaks. This study examines the outcomes of the ILPI BH project, a collaborative effort between the Municipal Health Department and the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, designed to mitigate COVID-19 spread within LTCFs.

Methods: Prospective cohort of secondary data: 1,794 old residents in 99 long-term care facilities of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, were followed from May 2020 to January 2021.

Frailty and spatialization of older adults in the city of Uberlândia with IVCF-20.

Objective: To describe the functional clinical profile of elderly people linked to primary health care, using the Functional Clinical Vulnerability Index (IVCF-20) and to spatialize those with the greatest functional decline by primary health care units in the municipality of Uberlândia, in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), in the year 2022.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with secondary data from the Municipal Health Department of Uberlândia-MG. The variables were compared using Student's t-test, Mann Whitney test, Pearson's chi-square, and multinomial logistic regression to obtain the independent effect of each variable.

Quality of information regarding abnormal uterine bleeding available online.

Introduction: The Internet and electronic devices with Internet access allow for a greater fluidity of information and speed of communication, especially in the field of health. Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) affects approximately 3-30% of women and can negatively impact their health and quality of life. Information regarding AUB that is available on the Internet may not be clear or accurate, rendering it difficult to understand and likely to result in delayed medical evaluation, which subsequently leads to worsening of the AUB.

Frailty in the elderly: screening possibilities in Primary Health Care.

Objectives: to evaluate two instruments for screening frailty in the elderly in Primary Health Care.

Methods: this is an observational, cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, with 396 elderly people. SPSS software helped to perform the statistical analyses.

[Frailty among the elderly assisted by primary health care teams].

The scope of this study was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with frailty among the elderly in Primary Health Care. It is a cross-sectional study carried out with 1750 elderly people in the Southeast of Brazil. The Brazilian Older American Resources and Services Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire (BOMFAQ) and the Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index (CFVI) were used for data collection.

Frailty in community-dwelling older people: comparing screening instruments.

Objective: To compare the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) and Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index-20 (CFVI-20) instruments regarding degree of agreement and correlation and compare descriptive models with frailty-associated variables in community-dwelling older people in Brazil.

Methods: Cross-sectional study, nested in a population-based and household cohort. Baseline sampling was calculated based on a probabilistic approach by conglomerate in two stages.

COVID-19 in long-term care facilities for the elderly: laboratory screening and disease dissemination prevention strategies.

An infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has unveiled a hitherto hidden reality: the vulnerability of the population living in long-term care facilities for the elderly (LTCF). To date, several scientific publications have revealed a concentration of up to 60% of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in such institutions. Most LTFC residents share the primary risk factors currently associated with increased morbimortality due to the COVID-19 infection.

Estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on mortality of institutionalized elderly in Brazil.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses difficulties for long-term care institutions for the elderly, with increased mortality rates for the residents. This study aims to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on mortality of institutionalized elderly in Brazil. Estimates of the percentage of elderly deaths occurring in care homes were calculated for Brazil, States and Regions using estimates for the total number of deaths.

Robust older adults in primary care: factors associated with successful aging.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of robustness among older adults assisted in primary health care and identify factors in successful aging.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with older adults in Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. Two questionnaires were used for data collection: the Brazilian Older Americans Resources and Services Multidimensional Function Assessment Questionnaire (BOMFAQ) and the Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index IVCF-20).

Increased N200 and P300 latencies in cognitively impaired elderly carrying ApoE ε-4 allele.

Objective: To compare the results of neuropsychological tests, evoked potentials N200 and P300 and polymorphisms of ApoE and BDNF rs6265 between patients with normal cognition and those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's dementia (AD).

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of elderly individuals with normal cognition and those with MCI and AD, who were submitted to evoked potential tests (N200 and P300) by means of hearing stimuli based on the auditory oddball paradigm. Genotyping was obtained by using the real-time PCR technique.

Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index-20 (IVCF-20): rapid recognition of frail older adults.

Objective: To evaluate the adequacy of the Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index-20, a rapid triage instrument to test vulnerability in Brazilian older adults, for the use in primary health care.

Methods: The study included convenience sample of 397 patients aged older than or equal to 60 years attended at Centro de Referência para o Idoso (Reference Center for Older Adults) and of 52 older adults the same age attended at the community. The results of the questionnaire, consisting of 20 questions, were compared with those of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, considered a reference for identifying frail older adults.

Association between DCHS2 gene and mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease in an elderly Brazilian sample.

Objectives: In 2012, Kamboh and colleagues published a genome-wide association study that identified the DCHS2 gene (rs1466662 T/A) influencing the age at onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed to investigate if there is association between the DCHS2 gene and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and AD in a sample of the Brazilian population.

Methods: 143 controls, 79 aMCI and 299 AD patients were selected and submitted to the same protocol of tests.

[Access to medicines for Alzheimer's disease provided by the Brazilian Unified National Health System in Minas Gerais State, Brazil].

This study evaluated barriers to access to treatment for Alzheimer's disease based on administrative cases involving cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and submitted to the Minas Gerais State Health Secretariat in Brazil in 2012 and 2013. Drawing on data from 165 randomly selected cases, the study addressed the following dimensions of access: geographic accessibility, accommodation, acceptability, availability, and affordability. The administrative processing to supply ChEIs took an average of 39 days and was influenced by characteristics of the path taken by the user.

Lack of Association between Genetic Polymorphism of Circadian Genes (PER2, PER3, CLOCK and OX2R) with Late Onset Depression and Alzheimer's Disease in a Sample of a Brazilian Population (Circadian Genes, Late-Onset Depression and Alzheimer's Disease).

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the association between polymorphisms in circadian genes and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and/or late-onset depression (LOD). AD pathology leads to circadian disturbances, with clear negative influence on quality of life. In addition, there is an increasing evidence that regulators of circadian system have effects on AD and LOD pathology.

The GAB2 and BDNF polymorphisms and the risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease in an elderly Brazilian sample.

Background: Evidences suggest that GAB2 and BDNF genes may be associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed to investigate the GAB2 rs2373115 and BDNF rs6265 polymorphisms and the risk of AD in a Brazilian sample.

Methods: 269 AD patients and 114 controls were genotyped with Real-time PCR.

Elderly patients attended in emergency health services in Brazil: a study for victims of falls and traffic accidents.

The article aims to describe the profile of elderly victims of falls and traffic accidents from the data of the Surveillance Survey of Violence and Accidents (VIVA). The VIVA Survey was conducted in the emergency health-services of the Unified Health System in the capitals of Brazil in 2011. The sample of elderly by type of accident was subjected to the two-step cluster procedure.

Mapping the clockworks: what does the Clock Drawing Test assess in normal and pathological aging?

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a cognitive screening tool used in clinical and research settings. Despite its role on the assessment of global cognitive functioning, the specific cognitive components required for test performance are still unclear. We aim to assess the role of executive functioning, global cognitive status, visuospatial abilities, and semantic knowledge on Shulman's CDT performance.

Verbal learning on depressive pseudodementia: accentuate impairment of free recall, moderate on learning processes, and spared short-term and recognition memory.

Objective: Depressive pseudodementia (DPD) is a clinical condition characterized by depressive symptoms followed by cognitive and functional impairment characteristics of dementia. Memory complaints are one of the most related cognitive symptoms in DPD. The present study aims to assess the verbal learning profile of elderly patients with DPD.

Clinical and autonomic profile of patients with Alzheimer's disease and mixed dementia patients.

Objective: To analyze the clinical and autonomical profile of patients with Alzheimer's disease or mixed dementia (MD).

Methods: Fifty-four patients with indication for cholinesterase inhibitors use were evaluated through clinical examination, rest electrocardiogram, and spectral analysis of heart rate (HR) variability through digital Holter system recordings.

Results: Overall, 61.

Clinical applicability and cutoff values for an unstructured neuropsychological assessment protocol for older adults with low formal education.

Background And Objectives: The neuropsychological exam plays a central role in the assessment of elderly patients with cognitive complaints. It is particularly relevant to differentiate patients with mild dementia from those subjects with mild cognitive impairment. Formal education is a critical factor in neuropsychological performance; however, there are few studies that evaluated the psychometric properties, especially criterion related validity, neuropsychological tests for patients with low formal education.

Genetic variant of AKT1 and AKTIP associated with late-onset depression in a Brazilian population.

Objectives: Examine the association between polymorphisms in the AKT1 and AKTIP genes and late-onset depression (LOD). Major depressive disorder is one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric diseases. LOD is a disorder that starts after 65 years old.

The Stick Design Test on the assessment of older adults with low formal education: evidences of construct, criterion-related and ecological validity.

Background: The assessment of visuospatial abilities is usually performed by drawing tasks. In patients with very low formal education, the use of these tasks might be biased by their cultural background. The Stick Design Test was developed for the assessment of this population.

Chronic diseases, cognition, functional decline, and the Charlson index in elderly people with dementia.

Objective: To assess the association between chronic degenerative diseases and functional decline, cognition, and mortality prediction.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a geriatrics service in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, involving 424 patients subdivided into two groups: control and dementia. The study analyzed socio-demographic and environmental data, chronic degenerative diseases, the Charlson index, and data on functional and cognitive dementia.

Cholinesterase inhibitors modulate autonomic function in patients with Alzheimer´s disease and mixed dementia.

Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs), the mainstay treatment for dementia, have systemic actions that can affect cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system (ANS). Thirty-nine patients with Alzheimer´s disease or mixed dementia underwent a comprehensive clinical evaluation, prior to and during ChEIs therapy, including orthostatic challenge, electrocardiogram (EKG) and heart rate variability (HRV) spectral analysis through Holter recordings. ChEIs therapy determined a decrease in supine diastolic blood pressure (BP) and in both diastolic and systolic BP in orthostatic position (79.