Objectives: An increasing number of elderly subjects with cancer were admitted to the palliative care unit and they have suffered both distressing symptoms and cognitive impairment. We aim to identify the prevalence of cognitive impairment among elderly cancer patients receiving in-patient palliative care and to examine any difference between patients with cognitive impairment on self-reported symptoms.
Materials And Methods: Subjects' age ≥65 admitted to a palliative care unit from 01 September 2015 to 31 August 2020 was included in the study. Exclusion criteria were those with an impaired conscious state, severe cognitive impairment, or language problems that were non-communicable. Variables collected included baseline demographics, cancer diagnosis, cancer stage, mobility state using the modified Barthel index (mBI), and performance status as measured by the palliative performance scale. Cognitive impairment was defined by abbreviated mental test ≤6. Self-reported symptoms scales were measured by the Chinese version of MD Anderson Symptom Inventory and EORTC QLQ C-30 (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30).
Results: Nine hundred and ninety-one subjects with 1174 admissions were retrieved. Eight hundred and seventy-three admission episodes were included in this study. Three hundred and eight (35%) have cognitive impairment. Cognitively impaired subjects were older, showed worse physical function and performance status, and more often residing in old age homes. Independent predictors of cognitive impairment were age (OR 1.09), mBI (OR 0.96), chair/bed bound state (OR 1.79), and presence of brain metastasis (OR 2.63). They reported lower scores in pain ( < 0.001), distress ( < 0.001), sleep disturbance ( < 0.001) and nausea and vomiting ( = 0.012) in the self-reported symptoms scale.
Conclusion: Elderly cancer patients with cognitive impairment were older with poorer performance status. They have reported a lower level of pain, distress, and sleep disturbance. Clinicians should be alerted to this phenomenon to tackle the unmet concomitant symptoms.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9168287 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.25259/IJPC_18_2021 | DOI Listing |
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Alzheimer Center Limburg, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Importance: Baseline cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and APOE ε4 allele copy number are important risk factors for amyloid-related imaging abnormalities in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) receiving therapies to lower amyloid-β plaque levels.
Objective: To provide prevalence estimates of any, no more than 4, or fewer than 2 CMBs in association with amyloid status, APOE ε4 copy number, and age.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used data included in the Amyloid Biomarker Study data pooling initiative (January 1, 2012, to the present [data collection is ongoing]).
JAMA Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.
Importance: Depressive symptoms are associated with cognitive decline in older individuals. Uncertainty about underlying mechanisms hampers diagnostic and therapeutic efforts. This large-scale study aimed to elucidate the association between depressive symptoms and amyloid pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropsychol Rev
January 2025
Department of Psychology, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University of London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK.
While Category Fluency (CF) is widely used to help profile semantic memory, item-level scoring (ILS) approaches to this test have been proposed to obtain indices that are less influenced by non-semantic supportive functions. We systematically reviewed the literature to test the hypotheses that (1) compared with healthy adults, individuals with a clinical diagnosis suggestive of neurodegeneration generate words of lower semantic complexity; (2) compared with young adults, older adults generate words of higher semantic complexity. We searched six databases (date of search: 8 December 2023) for studies that relied on CF and ILS methods, in normal ageing and in age-associated neurodegeneration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAging Clin Exp Res
January 2025
Department of Nursing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Background: Tai Chi (TC) is widely acknowledged for its positive impact on improving motor function in older adults. Nevertheless, limited research has directly compared the effects of different TC styles on older adults with functional impairments.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of different TC styles on motor function in older adults with functional impairments.
Cell Mol Neurobiol
January 2025
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Centro de Investigaciones Medico Sanitarias (CIMES), University of Malaga, Calle Marqués de Beccaria, 3, Campus Teatinos s/n, 29010, Malaga, Spain.
Tetrameric AMPA-type ionotropic glutamate receptors are primary transducers of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system, and their properties and abundance at the synaptic surface are crucial determinants of synaptic efficacy in neuronal communication across the brain. The induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) leads to the insertion of GluA1-containing AMPA receptors at the synaptic surface, whereas during long-term depression (LTD), these receptors are internalized into the cytoplasm of the spine. Disruptions in the trafficking of AMPA receptors to and from the synaptic surface attenuate both forms of synaptic plasticity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!