Publications by authors named "S K Farrand"
Introduction: Young-onset neurocognitive symptoms result from a heterogeneous group of neurological and psychiatric disorders which present a diagnostic challenge. To identify such factors, we analysed the Biomarkers in Younger-Onset Neurocognitive Disorders cohort, a study of individuals <65 years old presenting with neurocognitive symptoms for a diagnosis and who have undergone cognitive and biomarker analyses.
Methods: Sixty-five participants (median age at assessment of 56 years, 45% female) were recruited during their index presentation to the Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuropsychiatry Centre, a tertiary specialist service in Melbourne, Australia, and categorized as either early-onset Alzheimer's disease ( = 18), non-Alzheimer's disease neurodegeneration ( = 23) or primary psychiatric disorders ( = 24).
Article Synopsis
- People with neurodegenerative disorders often experience delays and misdiagnosis, making it important to find effective diagnostic tools.
- This study compared levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) among individuals with neurodegenerative disorders (ND), primary psychiatric disorders (PPD), and healthy controls, showing that plasma NfL was significantly elevated in ND.
- The research indicates that plasma NfL has strong diagnostic performance, especially in younger individuals, suggesting it could serve as a useful screening test to differentiate between ND and PPD in clinical settings.
Background: The Syrian conflict has been ongoing since 2011. Practical and scalable solutions are urgently needed to meet an increase in need for specialised psychological support for post-traumatic stress disorder given limited availability of clinicians. Training forcibly displaced Syrians with a mental health background to remotely deliver specialised interventions increases the availability of evidence based psychological support.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Given the rapid shift to in-home teleneuropsychology models, more research is needed to investigate the equivalence of non-facilitator models of teleneuropsychology delivery for people with younger onset dementia (YOD). This study aimed to determine whether equivalent performances were observed on neuropsychological measures administered in-person and via teleneuropsychology in a sample of people being investigated for YOD.
Method: Using a randomized counterbalanced cross-over design, 43 participants (Mage = 60.
Objective: People with neuropsychiatric symptoms often experience delay in accurate diagnosis. Although cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light (CSF NfL) shows promise in distinguishing neurodegenerative disorders (ND) from psychiatric disorders (PSY), its accuracy in a diagnostically challenging cohort longitudinally is unknown.
Methods: We collected longitudinal diagnostic information (mean = 36 months) from patients assessed at a neuropsychiatry service, categorising diagnoses as ND/mild cognitive impairment/other neurological disorders (ND/MCI/other) and PSY.