To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the CORDIAL program, a psychosocial intervention consisting of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), cognitive rehabilitation, and reminiscence to manage depressive symptoms for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial, based on a two-group (intervention and control), pre-/post-intervention design.

Participants were recruited from five different old age psychiatry and memory clinics at outpatients’ hospitals.

Hundred and ninety-eight people with MCI or early-stage dementia were included.

The intervention group (n = 100) received 11 individual weekly sessions of the CORDIAL program. This intervention includes elements from CBT, cognitive rehabilitation, and reminiscence therapy. The control group (n = 98) received treatment-as-usual.

We assessed Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) (main outcome), Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire, and Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s disease (secondary outcomes) over the course of 4 months and at a 10-month follow-up visit.

A linear mixed model demonstrated that the depressive symptoms assessed by MADRS were significantly more reduced in the intervention groups as compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The effect persisted for 6 months after the intervention. No significant differences between groups were found in neuropsychiatric symptoms or quality of life.

Our multicomponent intervention, which comprised 11 individual sessions of CBT, cognitive rehabilitation, and reminiscence therapy, reduced depressive symptoms in people with MCI and dementia.

To examine the interaction between structural brain volume measures derived from a clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in outpatient memory clinic patients.

Clinical and neuroimaging data were collected from the medical records of outpatient memory clinic patients who were seen by neurologists, geriatric neuropsychiatrists, and geriatricians. MRI scan acquisition was carried out on a 3 T Siemens Verio scanner at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Image analyses used an automated multi-label atlas fusion method with a geriatric atlas inventory to generate 193 anatomical regions from which volumes were measured. Regions of interest were generated a priori based on previous literature review of NPS in dementia. Regional volumes for agitation, apathy, and delusions were carried forward in a linear regression analysis.

Seventy-two patients had clinical and usable neuroimaging data that were analyzed and grouped by Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) agitation was inversely associated with rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) bilaterally and left subcallosal ACC volumes in the moderate severity group. Delusions were positively associated with left ACC volumes in both severe and mild groups but inversely associated with the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the moderate subgroup.

Agitation, apathy, and delusions are associated with volumes of a priori selected brain regions using clinical data and clinically acquired MRI scans. The ACC is an anatomic region common to these symptoms, particularly agitation and delusions, which closely mirror the findings of research-quality studies and suggest its importance as a behavioral hub.

Dementia guidelines propose the use of nonpharmacological interventions for sleep disturbances for older people. Based on available reviews, it seems most likely that multicomponent interventions have the strongest potential to be effective in improving sleep. However, a detailed description of multicomponent interventions is missing. This systematic review aims to identify, describe, and summarize multicomponent, nonpharmacological interventions to reduce or avoid sleep disturbances in nursing home residents.

This review followed established methodological frameworks for systematic evidence syntheses. A computerized search was conducted in December 2018, using the databases PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Cochrane Library. Two independent reviewers assessed all search results to identify eligible studies and assessed studies’ methodological quality following the Cochrane Risk of Bias methodology for randomized controlled trials and the CASP Appraisal Checklist for controlled trials.

Evaluation studies of any design investigating multicomponent interventions were included, except case studies. Components of included intervention programs were analyzed applying the TIDieR and CReDECI 2 criteria.

A total of 2056 studies were identified through the database search; ten publications about nine interventions met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The identified interventions can be summarized assigned to the categories “daytime activities,” “nighttime activities,” “staff training,” and “light exposure.” The approaches showed similarities and differences in procedures, materials, modes of delivery, intervention provider, and intervention period. None of the studies described any intended interactions between components or considered context characteristics in intervention modeling as well as internal and external facilitators or barriers influencing delivery of intervention. We identified positive or mixed positive effects for sleep-related outcomes for the mentioned categories.

The analysis of included interventions demonstrates somehow promising results, although findings are difficult to interpret as interventions were not well described, and the challenges of developing and evaluating complex interventions were not sufficiently acknowledged.

The aim of this study was to describe neuropsychiatric disorders of geriatric inpatients, to investigate associations of psychopathological symptomatology with clinical variables and to determine its impact on treatment outcome.

From January to April 2018, treatment data of geriatric inpatient records were collected retrospectively. Clinical diagnoses of neuropsychiatric disorders, that is, depression, dementia, and delirium, were identified. Clinical correlations were calculated by χ2-tests and t-tests. Confounding variables for determined correlations were ascertained by analyses of variance. Functional measurements (Barthel Index, Timed Up and Go, Tinetti Test, and De Morton Immobility Index) were assessed at start and end of geriatric inpatient treatment.

The mean age of the included 280 inpatients was 84 years, 71% were female, and the mean duration of treatment was 19.5 days. Twenty-nine percent of cases suffered from dementia, 27% from depression, and 15% from delirium at the time of geriatric treatment onset. Mentally ill inpatients, in addition, presented with a significantly higher number of comorbidities, compared to the group of mentally healthy inpatients. In contrast to the dementia and the delirium group of inpatients, prescription of analgetics was highest among the mentally healthy inpatients and inpatients with depression. Improvement was observed in each of the defined groups, and significant functional differences between all groups were found.

Neuropsychiatric disorders occur quite often in a geriatric hospital department, especially depression and dementia. Clinical correlations determined in this study suggest a close relationship of mental and somatic disorders in geriatric inpatients. This study further demonstrates that neuropsychiatric disorders in multimorbid, elderly patients do not prevent functional improvement.

To assess the influence of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) on the cognitive performance of older adults who are cognitively healthy or have mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Secondary data analysis of a sample (n = 497) of older adults from the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center who were either cognitively healthy (n = 285) or diagnosed with MCI (n = 212). Over half of the sample (n = 255) met the operationalized diagnostic criteria for MBI. Cognitive domains of executive function, attention, short-term memory, and episodic memory were assessed using a battery of neuropsychological tests.

Older adults with MBI performed worse on tasks of executive function, attention, and episodic memory compared to those without MBI. A significant interaction revealed that persons with MBI and MCI performed worse on tasks of episodic memory compared to individuals with only MCI, but no significant differences were found in performance in cognitively healthy older adults with or without MBI on this cognitive domain. As expected, cognitively healthy older adults performed better than individuals with MCI on every domain of cognition.

The present study found evidence that independent of cognitive status, individuals with MBI performed worse on tests of executive function, attention, and episodic memory than individuals without MBI. Additionally, those with MCI and MBI perform significantly worse on episodic memory tasks than individuals with only MCI. These results provide support for a unique cognitive phenotype associated with MBI and highlight the necessity for assessing both cognitive and behavioral symptoms.

To evaluate the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ϵ4 allele among older people in Central African Republic (CAR) and the Republic of Congo (ROC).

Multicenter population-based study following a two-phase design.

From 2011 to 2012, rural and urban areas of CAR and ROC.

People aged 65 and over.

Following screening using the Community Screening Interview for Dementia, participants with low cognitive scores (CSI-D ≤ 24.5) underwent clinical assessment. Dementia diagnosis followed the DSM-IV criteria and Peterson’s criteria were considered for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Neuropsychiatric symptoms were evaluated through the brief version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q). Blood samples were taken from all consenting participants before APOE genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between the APOE ϵ4 allele and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Overall, 322 participants had complete information on both neuropsychiatric symptoms and APOE status. Median age was 75.0 years and 81.1% were female. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were reported by 192 participants (59.8%) and at least 1 APOE ϵ4 allele was present in 135 (41.9%). APOE ϵ4 allele was not significantly associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms but showed a trend toward a protective effect in some models.

This study is the first one investigating the association between APOE ϵ4 and neuropsychiatric symptoms among older people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Preliminary findings indicate that the APOE ϵ4 allele was not associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms. Further research seems, however, needed to investigate the protective trend found in this study.