Healthy ageing through internet counselling in the elderly (HATICE): a multinational, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Although web-based interventions have been promoted for cardiovascular risk management over the past decade, there is limited evidence for effectiveness of these interventions in people older than 65 years. The healthy ageing through internet counselling in the elderly (HATICE) trial aimed to determine whether a coach-supported internet intervention for self-management can reduce cardiovascular risk in community-dwelling older people.

Methods: This prospective open-label, blinded endpoint clinical trial among people age 65 years or over at increased risk of cardiovascular disease randomly assigned participants in the Netherlands, Finland, and France to an interactive internet intervention stimulating coach-supported self-management or a control platform.

Associations of Subjective Memory Complaints and Simple Memory Task Scores With Future Dementia in the Primary Care Setting.

Purpose: Family physicians need simple yet comprehensive algorithms to discriminate between community-dwelling older persons who are at increased risk of dementia and those who are not. We aimed to investigate associations between incident dementia and responses to a single question regarding subjective memory complaints (SMC) combined with scores on 2 simple memory tests that are easy to use in the primary care setting.

Methods: Analyses were based on data from 3,454 community-dwelling older persons who participated in the 6- to 8-year Prevention of Dementia by Intensive Vascular Care (preDIVA) trial, yielding 21,341 person-years of observation.

Improving Prediction of Dementia in Primary Care.

Purpose: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is one of the most widely used instruments to screen for cognitive deficits; however, this instrument alone is not sensitive enough to detect early symptoms of dementia. We aimed to investigate whether additionally using the Visual Association Test (VAT) improves the predictive value of the MMSE score for development of dementia.

Methods: Analyses were based on data from 2,690 primary care patients aged 70 to 78 years who participated in the Prevention of Dementia by Intensive Vascular Care (preDIVA) trial.

Designing an Internet-Based Multidomain Intervention for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults: The HATICE Trial.

Background: Many dementia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) cases in older adults are attributable to modifiable vascular and lifestyle-related risk factors, providing opportunities for prevention. In the Healthy Aging Through Internet Counselling in the Elderly (HATICE) randomized controlled trial, an internet-based multidomain intervention is being tested to improve the cardiovascular risk (CVR) profile of older adults.

Objective: To design a multidomain intervention to improve CVR, based on the guidelines for CVR management, and administered through a coach-supported, interactive, platform to over 2500 community-dwellers aged 65+ in three European countries.

Cognitive Testing in People at Increased Risk of Dementia Using a Smartphone App: The iVitality Proof-of-Principle Study.

Background: Smartphone-assisted technologies potentially provide the opportunity for large-scale, long-term, repeated monitoring of cognitive functioning at home.

Objective: The aim of this proof-of-principle study was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of performing cognitive tests in people at increased risk of dementia using smartphone-based technology during a 6 months follow-up period.

Methods: We used the smartphone-based app iVitality to evaluate five cognitive tests based on conventional neuropsychological tests (Memory-Word, Trail Making, Stroop, Reaction Time, and Letter-N-Back) in healthy adults.

Antihypertensive withdrawal for the prevention of cognitive decline.

Background: Clinical trials and observational data have variously shown a protective, harmful or neutral effect of antihypertensives on cognitive function. In theory, withdrawal of antihypertensives could improve cerebral perfusion and reduce or delay cognitive decline. However, it is also plausible that withdrawal of antihypertensives may have a detrimental effect on cognition through increased incidence of stroke or other vascular events.

Development and Validation of an Interactive Internet Platform for Older People: The Healthy Ageing Through Internet Counselling in the Elderly Study.

Background: A myriad of Web-based applications on self-management have been developed, but few focus on older people. In the face of global aging, older people form an important target population for cardiovascular prevention. This article describes the full development of an interactive Internet platform for older people, which was designed for the Healthy Ageing Through Internet Counselling in the Elderly (HATICE) study.

Evaluation of the Use of Home Blood Pressure Measurement Using Mobile Phone-Assisted Technology: The iVitality Proof-of-Principle Study.

Background: Mobile phone-assisted technologies provide the opportunity to optimize the feasibility of long-term blood pressure (BP) monitoring at home, with the potential of large-scale data collection.

Objective: In this proof-of-principle study, we evaluated the feasibility of home BP monitoring using mobile phone-assisted technology, by investigating (1) the association between study center and home BP measurements; (2) adherence to reminders on the mobile phone to perform home BP measurements; and (3) referrals, treatment consequences and BP reduction after a raised home BP was diagnosed.

Methods: We used iVitality, a research platform that comprises a Website, a mobile phone-based app, and health sensors, to measure BP and several other health characteristics during a 6-month period.

Healthy Ageing Through Internet Counselling in the Elderly: the HATICE randomised controlled trial for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease and dementia share a number of risk factors including hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, smoking, obesity, diabetes and physical inactivity. The rise of eHealth has led to increasing opportunities for large-scale delivery of prevention programmes encouraging self-management. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a multidomain intervention to optimise self-management of cardiovascular risk factors in older individuals, delivered through an coach-supported interactive internet platform, can improve the cardiovascular risk profile and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline.

Deficits in inhibitory executive functions in Klinefelter (47, XXY) syndrome.

Klinefelter syndrome (47, XXY) is a sex chromosome aneuploidy associated with mild deficits in cognitive and language functions. Dysfunctions have also been reported in performance of tasks which examine executive functions. However, it is unclear whether the impaired performance is caused or accentuated by problems with semantic processing and information processing speed.