Higher purpose in life and education were associated with better cognition among older adults.

Background:  With aging, some cognitive abilities change because of neurobiological processes. Cognition may also be influenced by psychosocial aspects.

Objective:  To describe the relationship between a measure of neuroticism, depression symptoms, purpose in life, and cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults.

Cognitive impairment in post-acute COVID-19 syndrome: a scoping review.

Emerging studies indicate the persistence of symptoms beyond the acute phase of COVID-19. Cognitive impairment has been observed in certain individuals for months following infection. Currently, there is limited knowledge about the specific cognitive domains that undergo alterations during the post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and the potential impact of disease severity on cognition.

Cognitive Impairment Predicts Sarcopenia 9 Years Later among Older Adults.

Objective: To assess the longitudinal association between cognitive impairment and sarcopenia in a sample of Brazilian community-dwelling older adults.

Design: Nine-year observational prospective study.

Setting And Participants: A total of 521 community-dwelling older adults from 2 Brazilian sites of the Frailty in Brazilian Older Adults (FIBRA in Portuguese) study.

Psychometric study of the Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) Short Scale translated to Portuguese, applied to Brazilian older adults.

Unlabelled: The concept Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) is defined as a person's awareness that their behavior, level of physical, cognitive and social performance, and ways of experiencing life have changed as a consequence of having grown older, and not because of disease.

Objective: A psychometric study investigating evidence of construct validity and internal consistency of the Portuguese version of the AARC Short Scale was carried out.

Method: A convenience sample of 387 individuals aged≥60 years with no deficit suggestive of dementia were recruited at venues frequented by older persons and at households.

Probable sarcopenia is associated with cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults: results from the FIBRA study.

Background: The link between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment has not yet been thoroughly evaluated, especially among older adults.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between probable sarcopenia and cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults in two Brazilian cities.

Methods: Probable sarcopenia was assessed using the EWGSOP2 (2018) criteria.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with family caregiver burden and depression.

Unlabelled: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and degenerative condition affecting several cognitive areas, with a decline in functional abilities and behavioral changes.

Objective: To investigate the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms in older adults with AD and caregiver burden and depression.

Methods: A total of 134 family caregivers of older people diagnosed with AD answered a questionnaire with sociodemographic data and questions concerning the care context, neuropsychiatric symptoms, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms.

Factors Associated With Positive Self-Rated Health: Comparing Older Adults in Brazil and in Portugal.

Self-rated health is a multidimensional health indicator and a predictor of adverse events in old age. Answers to this assessment are influenced by social, cultural and personality factors. Exploring common and distinctive characteristics of Brazilian and Portuguese older adults aged 70 and over regarding positive self-rated health according to sociodemographic variables, to functional capacity, to independent performance of basic activities of daily living and to neuroticism, as well as analyzing associations between positive self-rated health and these variables.

Factors associated with perceived quality of life in older adults: ELSI-Brazil.

Objective: To identify factors associated with perceived quality of life in a representative national sample of the population aged 50 or over.

Methods: Data from 7,651 participants of the baseline ELSI-Brazil (Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging), conducted between 2015 and 2016, were used. The perceived quality of life was measured by the CASP-19 scale - (CASP - control, autonomy, self-fulfillment and pleasure), considering the highest tertile as good quality of life.

[New semantic-cultural validation and psychometric study of the CASP-19 scale in adult and elderly Brazilians].

The study aimed to investigate psychometric indicators of validity in the new version of CASP-19 for Brazilians 55 years and older and to study relations between scores on the scale and sex, age, schooling, and conjugal status. A total of 368 participants enrolled in educational programs for the elderly answered the CASP-19 scale (control, autonomy, self-realization, and pleasure), translated from English by five specialists and tested in 19 women (α = 0.730).

Path analysis of caregiver characteristics and neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease patients.

Aim: To determine the direct and indirect relationships of sociodemographic, emotional and behavioral characteristics of family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients who have neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Methods: A total of 134 family caregivers answered a questionnaire with sociodemographic data, and questions regarding the context of care, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Zarit Burden Interview, Dementia Management Strategies Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. A path analysis was used to model the direct and indirect relationships among the selected variables.

Verbal fluency in elderly with and without hypertension and diabetes from the FIBRA study in Ermelino Matarazzo.

Background: There are few studies on the qualitative variables derived from the animal category verbal fluency test (VF), especially with data originating from low-income samples of community-based studies.

Objective: To compare elderly with and without hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) regarding the total number of animals spoken, number of categories, groups and category switches on the VF test.

Methods: We used the database of the FIBRA (Frailty in Brazilian Elderly) community-based study.

Brazilian transcultural adaptation of an instrument on communicative strategies of caregivers of elderly with dementia.

Unlabelled: Communication with patients with dementia may be a difficult task for caregivers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to produce a Brazilian transcultural adaptation of an instrument developed in Canada, called the Small Communication Strategies Scale, composed of 10 items constructed from 10 communicative strategies most recurrent in a literature survey.

Methods: Drawing on understanding of the construction of the Small Communication Strategies Scale (SCSS), a Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument was devised through the following steps: translation, back-translation and semantic-cultural adaptation by a specialized linguist in English-Portuguese translations and application of the comprehension test for the version produced in a group of caregivers of elderly individuals with dementia.

Normative data for the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery stratified by age and education.

Introduction: Diagnosing neurocognitive disorders is challenging in low-educated individuals.

Objective: To report normative data for the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) and to assess the association of age and education with performance on the BCSB in 240 community-dwelling elderly from Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo city.

Methods: The inclusion criteria were scoring above the education-adjusted cut-off points on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and below six points on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).

Relationships between episodic memory performance prediction and sociodemographic variables among healthy older adults.

Unlabelled: Previous studies have suggested that performance prediction, an aspect of metamemory, may be associated with objective performance on memory tasks.

Objective: The objective of the study was to describe memory prediction before performing an episodic memory task, in community-dwelling older adults, stratified by sex, age group and educational level. Additionally, the association between predicted and objective performance on a memory task was investigated.

Mini-Mental State Examination performance in frail, pre-frail, and non-frail community dwelling older adults in Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: Frailty in older adults is a multifactorial syndrome defined by low metabolic reserve, less resistance to stressors, and difficulty in maintaining organic homeostasis due to cumulative decline of multiple physiological systems. The relationship between frailty and cognition remains unclear and studies about Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance and frailty are scarce. The objective was to examine the association between frailty and cognitive functioning as assessed by the MMSE and its subdomains.

Determinants of cognitive performance among community dwelling older adults in an impoverished sub-district of São Paulo in Brazil.

Determinants of cognitive performance in old age have received limited attention in Latin America. We investigated the association of socio-demographic and health-related variables with cognitive performance in a sample of older adults with limited educational experience living in a poor sub-district of the city of São Paulo. This was a cross-sectional population-based study which included a sample of 384 seniors 65 years and older.

Effects of a multidisciplinary cognitive rehabilitation program for patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program on cognition, quality of life, and neuropsychiatry symptoms in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

Method: The present study was a single-blind, controlled study that was conducted at a university-based day-hospital memory facility. The study included 25 Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers and involved a 12-week stimulation and psychoeducational program.

Effects of a psychoeducational intervention in family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Unlabelled: Psychoeducational activities are a way of promoting help for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease, representing a forum for knowledge sharing, and in which the primary focus is on psychological themes aimed at carers developing coping skills and strategies.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to gauge perceptions about care and its impact among family caregivers of patients with AD participating in a psychoeducational group intervention, as well as the possible positive and negative aspects associated with this role. The subjective impact of AD on the lives of these caregivers was assessed on each of the dimensions of the Caregiver Burden Scale using a semi-directed interview on perceptions about care.

Subjective and psychological well-being of students of a University of the Third Age: Benefits of continuing education for psychological adjustment in the elderly.

Objectives: The present study sought to characterize the degree of general satisfaction with life and degree of satisfaction on four domains: health, physical capacity, mental capacity and social involvement, and to determine the characteristics of self-reports of individuals enrolled on the program in relation to their psychological well-being focusing on the dimensions: autonomy, personal growth, control, positive relationships with others, purpose, personal acceptance and generativity, and to analyse the effect of time studying on level of well-being.

Method: A total of 140 elderly students of a University for the Third Age took part in the study. The Global Satisfaction With Life Scale and the Self Development Scale (with six psychological well-being subscales) were applied.

Depressive symptoms in old age: relations among sociodemographic and self-reported health variables.

Background: Depression in old age is a complex multifactorial phenomenon that is influenced by several biopsychosocial variables. Depressive symptoms are associated with the presence of chronic diseases, with being female, with low education and low income levels, and with poor perceived health assessment. In impoverished areas, older adults may have more physical disability, as they may have less access to health services.

Elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and their family relationships: Caregiver perspectives.

Objective: The present study was to investigate the status of the family relationships of elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease from a caregiver's perspective.

Methods: A total of sixteen relatives/caregivers of AD patients were assessed by applying a semi-structured questionnaire about family relationships. Frequency tables containing categorical variables (gender, schooling, personal income and current occupation) were compiled.

Depressive symptoms in elderly participants of an open university for elderly.

Unlabelled: Although the prevalence of depressive disorders among the elderly is lower than among the younger population, the presence of significant symptoms of depression is common in this group. Studies report that participation in social, educational and leisure activities is related to fewer depressive symptoms in this population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of depression among elderly participants of an Open University for the Third Age, in terms of the time studying.

[Depressive symptoms in older adults studying at a third age open university].

Introduction: Although depressive disorders prevalence among older adults usually is less than in the younger population, the presence of significant symptoms of depression is common in elderly people. Studies show that taking part in social, educational and pleasure activities is associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms above the elderly participants of a Third Age Open University, taking the time taking part as a reference.