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Special Issue "Editorial Board Members' Collection Series: Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Neurodegenerative Disorders"

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Dear Colleagues,

Dementia is a leading cause of death worldwide. Associated with aging, its prevalence is expected to grow in line with global demographic trends. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Disorders such as these are strongly associated with cognitive symptoms, which vary according to the stage of the disease. Increasingly, prodromal stages are recognized, such as mild cognitive impairment. In addition to increased healthcare needs, physical decline, frailty and higher economic costs, persons experiencing symptoms of cognitive impairment have a lower quality of life. These conditions also impact negatively upon the lives of their family and friends, who often experience significant strain providing care and support. It is increasingly recognized that the causes of neurodegenerative disorders are multi-factorial, such that a person’s genes, lifestyle and environment all contribute to their risk of developing cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disease, as well as the risk of progression. Despite a greater understanding of these conditions over recent years, scientists still have a lot of work to do to better prevent, assess, diagnose and treat these aged-related disorders.

We are pleased to announce this Collection, titled “Editorial Board Members' Collection Series: Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Neurodegenerative Disorders”. This Issue will be a collection of papers from researchers invited by the Editorial Board Members. The aim is to provide a venue for networking and communication between IJERPH and scholars in the field of age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders. All papers will be published with full open access after peer review.

Dr. Giuseppe Lanza
Dr. Rónán O’Caoimh
Guest Editors

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Keywords

aging
cognitive decline
neurodegenerative disorder
Alzheimer’s disease
Parkinson's disease
dementia
mild cognitive impairment
neurogenetics
cerebrovascular disease
prevention
drugs
nutraceuticals
non-pharmacological interventions
caregiver burden, cognitive frailty

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Research

14 pages, 1115 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Validation of a Harmonised, Three-Item Cognitive Screening Instrument for the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Cog)

Mark R. O’Donovan

Nicola Cornally

and

Rónán O’Caoimh

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(19), 6869; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196869 - 30 Sep 2023

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Abstract

More accurate and standardised screening and assessment instruments are needed for studies to better understand the epidemiology of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in Europe. The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) does not have a harmonised multi-domain cognitive test available. The current study proposes and validates a new instrument, the SHARE cognitive instrument (SHARE-Cog), for this large European longitudinal cohort. Three cognitive domains/sub-tests were available across all main waves of the SHARE and incorporated into SHARE-Cog; these included 10-word registration, verbal fluency (animal naming) and 10-word recall. Subtests were weighted using regression analysis. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed from the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic curves. Diagnostic categories included normal cognition (NC), subjective memory complaints (SMC), MCI and dementia. A total of 20,752 participants were included from wave 8, with a mean age of 75 years; 55% were female. A 45-point SHARE-Cog was developed and validated and had excellent diagnostic accuracy for identifying dementia (AUC = 0.91); very good diagnostic accuracy for cognitive impairment (MCI + dementia), (AUC = 0.81); and good diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing MCI from dementia (AUC = 0.76) and MCI from SMC + NC (AUC = 0.77). SHARE-Cog is a new, short cognitive screening instrument developed and validated to assess cognition in the SHARE. In this cross-sectional analysis, it has good–excellent diagnostic accuracy for identifying cognitive impairment in this wave of SHARE, but further study is required to confirm this in previous waves and over time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members' Collection Series: Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Neurodegenerative Disorders)

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10 pages, 342 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatio-Temporal Gait Parameters of Hospitalized Older Patients: Comparison of Fallers and Non-Fallers

and

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4563; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054563 - 04 Mar 2023

Viewed by 763

Abstract

Gait disorders are predisposing factors for falls. They are accessible to rehabilitation and can be analyzed using tools that collect spatio-temporal parameters of walking, such as the GAITRite^® mat. The objective of this retrospective study was to find differences between the spatio-temporal parameters in patients who had fallen compared to patients who did not fall in a population of older patients hospitalized in acute geriatrics department. Patients over 75 years were included. For each patient, spatio-temporal parameters were collected using the GAITRite^® mat. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether they had a history of fall. The spatio-temporal parameters were compared between the two groups and in relation to the general population. Sixty-seven patients, with an average age of 85.9 ± 6 years, were included. The patients had comorbidities, cognitive impairment and were polymedicated. The mean walking speed was 51.4 cm/s in non-fallers group and 47.3 cm/s in fallers group (p = 0.539), indicating pathological walking in comparison with the general population of the same age (average 100 cm/s). No association was found between the spatio-temporal parameters and fall, probably linked to many confounding factors such as the pathogenicity of walking of our patients and their comorbidities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members' Collection Series: Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Neurodegenerative Disorders)

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