Publications by authors named "Marie-Pierre Fortin"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to assess how often older adults (65+) experience negative health outcomes during hospital stays after being treated for isolated hip fractures in emergency departments in Quebec.
  • Involving 4,569 patients over a 14-year period, it found that 40% experienced at least one adverse event, with common issues including extended hospital stays, complications, and mortality.
  • Key risk factors for these events included advanced age (over 75), male sex, cardiovascular disease, cognitive disorders, and multiple health conditions, while direct admission to surgery appeared to reduce risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

(1) Background: This article discusses the first two phases of development and validation of the Three Domains of Judgment Test (3DJT). This computer-based tool, co-constructed with users and capable of being administered remotely, aims to assess the three main domains of judgment (practical, moral, and social) and learn from the psychometric weaknesses of tests currently used in clinical practice. (2) Method: First, we presented the 3DJT to experts in cognition, who evaluated the tool as a whole as well as the content validity, relevance, and acceptability of 72 scenarios.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are promising tools to help identify the underlying pathology of neurocognitive disorders. In this manuscript, we report our experience with AD CSF biomarkers in 262 consecutive patients in a tertiary care memory clinic.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 262 consecutive patients who underwent lumbar puncture (LP) and CSF measurement of AD biomarkers (Aβ1-42, total tau or t-tau, and p-tau181).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: We aimed to validate the (DCQ; www.dcqtest.org), a new cognitive screening tool for atypical degenerative syndromes, in the oldest old.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/aims: The logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is characterized by impaired word-finding and sentence repetition with phonologic errors but spared motor speech and grammar and semantic knowledge. Although its language deficits have been well studied, the full spectrum of cognitive changes in the lvPPA remains to be defined. We aimed to explore the neurocognitive profile of the lvPPA using a newly developed cognitive screening tool for atypical dementias, the Dépistage Cognitif de Québec (DCQ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Early recognition of atypical dementia remains challenging partly because of lack of cognitive screening instruments precisely tailored for this purpose.

Methods: We assessed the validity and reliability of the Dépistage Cognitif de Québec (DCQ; www.dcqtest.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study aimed to validate and provide normative data for the Dépistage Cognitif de Québec (DCQ; www.dcqtest.org), a new cognitive screening tool for atypical dementias.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Few studies have explored the rate of cognitive decline and caregiver burden within the context of a specialized memory clinic. When this was done, the focus was largely on functional decline related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our goal was to compare the longitudinal decline of AD patients to those with Vascular Dementia (VaD) on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recent studies have supported a role for amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in distinguishing Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology from other pathological protein accumulations leading to dementia. We investigated the clinical utility of amyloid PET in the differential diagnosis of atypical dementia cases and its impact on caregivers. Using the amyloid tracer 18F-NAV4694, we prospectively scanned 28 patients (mean age 59.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diagnosis of atypical/unclear dementia is often difficult and this delays treatment initiation. Several authors have shown that beyond standard dementia workup, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) reduces the number of unclear diagnoses, leads to earlier treatment, and has a beneficial impact on families. However, it is not uncommon that the FDG-PET findings are equivocal in this setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: An increasing number of medications that are frequently prescribed to elderly patients have been identified as having weak but definite anticholinergic properties. Few epidemiological studies have evaluated the impact of these drugs on verbal episodic memory using sensitive and specific neuropsychological testing in an elderly population presenting with cognitive impairment.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of drugs with anticholinergic properties on verbal episodic memory function in elderly patients presenting for memory evaluation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Dobutamine echocardiography (DOB) can be substituted to exercise testing when necessary for clinical reasons. Current literature suggests DOB is maximal when 85% of maximal predicted heart rate (%PHR) is achieved (similar to EX), but there is little evidence to determine whether this target has the same clinical significance as during EX. We therefore performed this study to compare the ischemic threshold between EX and DOB.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF