Biomarkers.

Background: Beyond dementia syndromes, cognitive symptoms are highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD), often manifesting as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Yet, their detection and characterization remain suboptimal because standard approaches rely on subjective impressions derived from lengthy, univariate tests. Here we introduce a novel approach to detect cognitive symptom severity and identify MCI in PD using fully automated word property analyses on brief verbal fluency tasks.

Public Health.

Background: Characterizing changes in cognitive function during the last years of life is vital for providing appropriate care, supporting quality of life, and planning for future demands on our medical and social resources. The aim of this project was to construct a cognitive function trajectory file spanning the last five years of life to better understand common patterns of cognitive aging.

Method: The analytic cohort included 2019 Medicare decedents, aged 50 or older at death, with five years of continuous enrollment before death (n = 1,952,408).

Public Health.

Background: Dramatically varying estimates of survival time following an initial diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias have been reported across different studies. The prevalence of dementia increases with age while survival time decreases with increasing age at diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate how survival time after a diagnosis of dementia varies by sex, race/ethnicity, and age at time of diagnosis.

Public Health.

Background: Most older adults prefer aging in place; however, patients with dementia and advanced illness often need institutional care, even if only for a brief period of time. In the context of the aging US population and the increasing number of individuals living with dementia, understanding place of care trajectory patterns is important for patient-centered care planning and health policy decisions. The purpose of this study was to characterize place of care trajectories during the last three years of life among Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with dementia.

Public Health.

Background: Individuals with dementia often have one or more chronic conditions, and the disease burden and care experience may differ based on the plurality of chronic conditions. We aim to describe the individual characteristics, health care use, and place of death for individuals with dementia and multiple comorbidities.

Method: A retrospective cohort of individuals who died in 2019 with dementia, and were continuously enrolled in Medicare for at least three years.