Cross-national statistical harmonization of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale among older adults in China, England, India, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.

Objective: We examined differential item functioning (DIF) of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) items by country and statistically harmonized common cross-national factor scores for the CES-D to aid further cross-national research.

Study Design And Setting: Data were from Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) studies in China (N=9,639), England (N=1,262), India (N=4,048), Mexico (N=1,918), South Africa (N=631, and the US (N=3,321). Multiple indicators, multiple causes models (MIMIC) were estimated to test DIF in the CES-D items by country.

Inflammatory Indices and Their Associations with Postoperative Delirium.

Background: Although the pathogenesis of delirium is poorly understood, increasing evidence supports a role for inflammation. Previously, individual inflammatory biomarkers have been associated with delirium. Aggregating biomarkers into an index may provide more information than individual biomarkers in predicting certain health outcomes (e.

Adaptation, calibration, and validation of a cognitive assessment battery for telephone and video administration.

Background: Events such as global pandemics can force rapid adoption of new modes of assessment. We describe the evaluation of a modified neuropsychological assessment for web and telephone administration.

Methods: Telephone and video conferencing-based neuropsychological assessment procedures were developed and implemented within an ongoing observational study, the Successful Aging following Elective Surgery II (SAGES) study (N = 420 persons).

Neuroimaging Markers of Brain Reserve and Associations with Delirium in Patients with Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background: Delirium occurs frequently in patients with stroke, but the role of preexisting neural substrates in delirium pathogenesis remains unclear. We sought to explore associations between acute and chronic neural substrates of delirium in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Methods: Using data from a single-center ICH registry, we identified consecutive patients with acute nontraumatic ICH and available magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Validating the Fluctuating Mental Status Evaluation in Neurocritically Ill Patients With Acute Stroke.

Objectives: Neurocritically ill patients are at high risk for developing delirium, which can worsen the long-term outcomes of this vulnerable population. However, existing delirium assessment tools do not account for neurologic deficits that often interfere with conventional testing and are therefore unreliable in neurocritically ill patients. We aimed to determine the accuracy and predictive validity of the Fluctuating Mental Status Evaluation (FMSE), a novel delirium screening tool developed specifically for neurocritically ill patients.

Psychometric and adherence considerations for high-frequency, smartphone-based cognitive screening protocols in older adults.

Objective: The psychometric rigor of unsupervised, smartphone-based assessments and factors that impact remote protocol engagement is critical to evaluate prior to the use of such methods in clinical contexts. We evaluated the validity of a high-frequency, smartphone-based cognitive assessment protocol, including examining convergence and divergence with standard cognitive tests, and investigating factors that may impact adherence and performance (i.e.

Christianson syndrome across the lifespan: genetic mutations and longitudinal study in children, adolescents, and adults.

Objectives: Mutations in the X-linked endosomal Na+/H+ exchanger 6 (NHE6) cause Christianson syndrome (CS). Here, in the largest study to date, we examine genetic diversity and clinical progression in CS into adulthood.

Method: Data were collected as part of the International Christianson Syndrome and () Gene Network Study.

Prediction of Postoperative Delirium in Older Adults from Preoperative Cognition and Occipital Alpha Power from Resting-State Electroencephalogram.

Background: Postoperative delirium is the most common complication following surgery among older adults, and has been consistently associated with increased mortality and morbidity, cognitive decline, and loss of independence, as well as markedly increased health-care costs. Electroencephalography (EEG) spectral slowing has frequently been observed during episodes of delirium, whereas intraoperative frontal alpha power is associated with postoperative delirium. We sought to identify preoperative predictors that could identify individuals at high risk for postoperative delirium, which could guide clinical decision-making and enable targeted interventions to potentially decrease delirium incidence and postoperative delirium-related complications.

The Fully Understanding Eating and Lifestyle Behaviors (FUEL) trial: Protocol for a cohort study harnessing digital health tools to phenotype dietary non-adherence behaviors during lifestyle intervention.

Objective: Lifestyle intervention can produce clinically significant weight loss and reduced disease risk/severity for many individuals with overweight/obesity. Dietary lapses, instances of non-adherence to the recommended dietary goal(s) in lifestyle intervention, are associated with less weight loss and higher energy intake. There are distinct "types" of dietary lapse (e.

Development and assessment of analytic methods to improve the measurement of cognition in longitudinal studies of aging through the use of substudies with comprehensive neuropsychological testing.

Introduction: The Health and Retirement Study International Partner Surveys (HRS IPS) have rich longitudinal data, but the brevity of cognitive batteries is a limitation.

Methods: We used data from a substudy of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) administering detailed cognitive assessments with the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (ELSA-HCAP) (N = 1273) to inform approaches for estimating cognition in ELSA (N = 11,213). We compared two novel approaches: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)- and regression-based prediction.

Relationship between cortical brain atrophy, delirium, and long-term cognitive decline in older surgical patients.

In older patients, delirium after surgery is associated with long-term cognitive decline (LTCD). The neural substrates of this association are unclear. Neurodegenerative changes associated with dementia are possible contributors.

The Mediating Effects of Education and Occupational Complexity Between Race and Longitudinal Change in Late Life Cognition in ACTIVE.

This study examined educational and occupational inequality as two aspects of social determinants of health that might mediate the longitudinal relationship between racialization and late life cognitive level and change. Participants were 2371 individuals racialized as Black and White from the ACTIVE study who provided occupational data. Data were analyzed from baseline and five assessments over 10-years using structural equation modeling.

Virtual Reality and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychiatric disorder that is particularly difficult to treat in military veterans. Noninvasive brain stimulation has significant potential as a novel treatment to reduce PTSD symptoms.

Objective: To test whether active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) plus virtual reality (VR) is superior to sham tDCS plus VR for warzone-related PTSD.

Cross-national comparisons of later-life cognitive function using data from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP): Considerations and recommended best practices.

The Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) is a major innovation that provides, for the first time, harmonized data for cross-national comparisons of later-life cognitive functions that are sensitive to linguistic, cultural, and educational differences across countries. However, cognitive function does not lend itself to direct comparison across diverse populations without careful consideration of the best practices for such comparisons. This perspective discusses theoretical and methodological considerations and offers a set of recommended best practices for conducting cross-national comparisons of risk factor associations using HCAP data.

Biomarkers of neurodegeneration and neural injury as potential predictors for delirium.

Objectives: Determine if biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and neural injury may play a role in the prediction of delirium risk.

Methods: In a cohort of older adults who underwent elective surgery, delirium case-no delirium control pairs (N = 70, or 35 matched pairs) were matched by age, sex and vascular comorbidities. Biomarkers from CSF and plasma samples collected prior to surgery, including amyloid beta (Aβ) , Aβ , total (t)-Tau, phosphorylated (p)-Tau , neurofilament-light (NfL), and glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) were measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) or ultrasensitive single molecule array (Simoa) immunoassays.

Lifetime occupational skill and later-life cognitive function among older adults in the United States, Mexico, India, and South Africa.

Introduction: We conducted a cross-national comparison of the association between main lifetime occupational skills and later-life cognitive function across four economically and socially distinct countries.

Methods: Data were from population-based studies of aging and their Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocols (HCAPs) in the US, South Africa, India, and Mexico (N = 10,037; Age range: 50 to 105 years; 2016 to 2020). Main lifetime occupational skill was classified according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations.

Measuring Exposure to the Hazardous Drinking of Others and Perceived Opportunity to Intervene as a Bystander.

Objective: Excessive alcohol use is very prevalent among young adults, and consequences of drinking are often observed by witnesses. Understanding the circumstances under which witnesses of risky alcohol use help others and whether they perceive these circumstances as an opportunity to engage in bystander intervention are important, but valid measures of these constructs are needed. The current study is a psychometric evaluation of the Exposure to Hazardous Drinking in Others (EHDO) scale and a single-item indicator of Perceived Alcohol-Related Bystander Opportunity (PARBO).

Using Bayesian item response theory for multicohort repeated measure design to estimate individual latent change scores.

Repeated measure data design has been used extensively in a wide range of fields, such as brain aging or developmental psychology, to answer important research questions exploring relationships between trajectory of change and external variables. In many cases, such data may be collected from multiple study cohorts and harmonized, with the intention of gaining higher statistical power and enhanced external validity. When psychological constructs are measured using survey scales, a fundamental psychometric challenge for data harmonization is to create commensurate measures for the constructs of interest across studies.

Christianson Syndrome across the Lifespan: An International Longitudinal Study in Children, Adolescents, and Adults.

Mutations in the X-linked endosomal Na+/H+ Exchanger 6 (NHE6) causes Christianson Syndrome (CS). In the largest study to date, we examine genetic diversity and clinical progression, including cerebellar degeneration, in CS into adulthood. Data were collected as part of the International Christianson Syndrome and NHE6 (SLC9A6) Gene Network Study.