Outcomes in heart failure patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities with delirium.

Aim: Heart failure (HF) outcomes are disproportionately worse in patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) as opposed to home. We hypothesized that dementia and delirium were key factors influencing these differences. Our aim was to explore the associations of dementia and delirium with risk of hospital readmission and mortality in HF patients discharged to SNF.

Delirium and Functional Recovery in Patients Discharged to Skilled Nursing Facilities After Hospitalization for Heart Failure.

Importance: A substantial number of patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) after heart failure (HF) hospitalization experience regression in function or do not improve. Delirium is one of few modifiable risk factors in this patient population. Therefore, understanding the role of delirium in functional recovery may be useful for improving outcomes.

The UF Deep Brain Stimulation Cognitive Rating Scale (DBS-CRS): Clinical Decision Making, Validity, and Outcomes.

To more efficiently communicate the results of neuropsychological assessment to interdisciplinary teams, the University of Florida Neuropsychology Service developed a Deep Brain Stimulation-Cognitive Rating Scale (DBS-CRS). This tool condensed results of a 3-h exam into a five-point scale ranging from 1 (least) to 5 (most) cognitive concern for DBS surgery. In this study, we evaluated the role of the DBS-CRS in clinical decisions by the interdisciplinary team to proceed to surgery, its relationship to objective neuropsychological scores, and its predictive utility for clinical outcome.

Cognitive Characteristics Associated With Device Adoption, Skill Retention, and Early Withdrawal From a Study of an Advanced Upper Limb Prosthesis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the role of cognition in device adoption, skill retention, and withdrawal from a study of an advanced upper limb prosthesis (the DEKA Arm).

Design: T tests and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare test performance among study completers and noncompleters. Multivariable regression analyses were used to predict study withdrawal and DEKA Arm skill retention.

Emotion modulation of the startle reflex in essential tremor: Blunted reactivity to unpleasant and pleasant pictures.

Background: Essential tremor is a highly prevalent movement disorder characterized by kinetic tremor and mild cognitive-executive changes. These features are commonly attributed to abnormal cerebellar changes, resulting in disruption of cerebellar-thalamo-cortical networks. Less attention has been paid to alterations in basic emotion processing in essential tremor, despite known cerebellar-limbic interconnectivity.

Mood Differences Among Parkinson's Disease Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Studies with healthy elderly adults suggest that apathy, depression, and anxiety are more common among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study examined differences in mood/amotivational symptoms among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with and without MCI. Patients with PD (N=214) underwent neurocognitive evaluations including assessment of apathy (Apathy Scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory trait scale).

Memory Similarities Between Essential Tremor and Parkinson's Disease: A Final Common Pathway?

Objective: A growing body of literature supports the view that essential tremor (ET) involves alteration of cerebellar-thalamo-cortical networks which can result in working memory and executive deficits. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that individuals with ET would exhibit worse performance on memory tasks requiring more intrinsic organization and structuring (i.e.

The cognition and emotional well-being indices of the Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39: what do they really measure?

Introduction: The Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) is a common measure of health related quality of life (HRQoL) that is widely used with Parkinson disease (PD) patients. Previous evidence suggests that the PDQ-39 reflects at least 8 dimensions (i.e.

Anxiety and Depression Are Better Correlates of Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Than Apathy.

Due to controversy regarding the influence of apathy on quality of life (QoL), the authors examined the independent influence of apathy, depression, and trait anxiety in a nondemented sample of patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Participants (N=107) completed standard self-report measures of QoL and mood/motivation. Analyses investigated the contribution of these measures and empirically derived factor scores on QoL.

α-Synuclein in cutaneous autonomic nerves.

Objective: To develop a cutaneous biomarker for Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: Twenty patients with PD and 14 age- and sex-matched control subjects underwent examinations, autonomic testing, and skin biopsies at the distal leg, distal thigh, and proximal thigh. α-Synuclein deposition and the density of intraepidermal, sudomotor, and pilomotor nerve fibers were measured.

Quantitative pilomotor axon reflex test: a novel test of pilomotor function.

Background: Cutaneous autonomic function can be quantified by the assessment of sudomotor and vasomotor responses. Although piloerector muscles are innervated by the sympathetic nervous system, there are at present no methods to quantify pilomotor function.

Objective: To quantify piloerection using phenylephrine hydrochloride in humans.