No abstract

BackgroundThis study assessed how family caregivers for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or dementia in Japan differed from non-caregivers in characteristics and health outcomes (i.e., comorbidities, health-related quality of life [HRQoL], productivity, and resource use). Caregivers were hypothesized to experience significantly poorer outcomes than non-caregivers.MethodsData were combined from the 2012 and 2013 National Health and Wellness Survey in Japan (n = 60000). Caregivers for adult relatives with AD or dementia were compared with non-caregivers on: comorbidities (including Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) cutoff scores suggesting presence/absence of major depressive disorder (MDD)), Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI), SF-36v2-based HRQoL, and healthcare resource utilization. Sociodemographic characteristics, health characteristics and behaviors, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) scores were compared across groups. Propensity matching, based on scores generated from a logistic regression predicting caregiving, was used to match caregivers with non-caregivers with similar likelihood of being caregivers. Bivariate comparisons across matched groups served to estimate outcomes differences due to caregiving.ResultsAmong 55060 respondents, compared with non-caregivers (n = 53758), caregivers (n = 1302) were older (52.6 vs. 47.5 years), more frequently female (53 % vs. 49 %), married/partnered, frequent alcohol drinkers, current smokers, exercisers, and not employed, and they averaged higher CCI scores (0.37 vs. 0.14), all p < 0.05. Propensity scores incorporated sex, age, body mass index (BMI), exercise, alcohol, smoking, marital status, CCI, insured status, education, employment, income, and children in household. A greedy matching algorithm produced 1297 exact matches, excluding 5 non-matched caregivers. Health utilities scores were significantly lower among caregivers (0.724) vs. non-caregivers (0.764), as were SF-36v2 Physical and Mental Component Summary scores. Caregivers vs. non-caregivers had significantly higher absenteeism, presenteeism-related impairment, overall work impairment (25.8 % vs. 20.4 %, respectively), and activity impairment (25.4 % vs. 21.8 %), more emergency room and traditional provider visits (7.70 vs. 5.35) in the past six months, and more frequent MDD (14 % vs. 9 %), depression, insomnia, anxiety, and pain.ConclusionsThose providing care for patients with AD or dementia in Japan experienced significantly poorer HRQoL and greater comorbid risk, productivity impairment, and resource use. These findings inform the need for greater support for caregivers and their patients.

An increasing number of individuals in our population are surviving to over 90 years and a subset is at risk for developing dementia. However, senile plaque and neurofibrillary tangle pathology do not consistently differentiate individuals with and without dementia. Synaptic protein loss is a feature of aging and dementia and may dissociate 90+ individuals with and without dementia. Synaptophysin (SYN), postsynaptic density 95 (PSD-95) and growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) were studied in the frontal cortex of an autopsy series of 32 prospectively followed individuals (92-105 years) with a range of cognitive function. SYN protein levels were decreased in individuals with dementia and increased in those with clinical signs of cognitive impairment insufficient for a diagnosis of dementia. SYN but neither PSD-95 nor GAP-43 protein levels were significantly correlated with mini-mental status examination (MMSE) scores. Frontal cortex SYN protein levels may protect neuronal function in oldest-old individuals and reflect compensatory responses that may be involved with maintaining cognition.

Although the oldest old are the fastest growing segment of the population, little is known about their cognitive performance. Our aim was to compile a relatively brief test battery that could be completed by a majority of individuals aged 90 or over, compensates for sensory losses, and incorporates previously validated, standardized, and accessible instruments. Means, standard deviations, and percentiles for 10 neuropsychological tests covering multiple cognitive domains are reported for 339 nondemented members of the 90+ Study. Cognitive performance declined with age for two-thirds of the tests. Performance on some tests was also affected by gender, education, and depression scores.

Several lines of evidence from Alzheimer's disease (AD) research continue to support the notion that the biological changes associated with AD are occurring possibly several decades before an individual will experience the cognitive and functional changes associated with the disease. The National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association revised criteria for AD provided a framework for this new thinking. As a result of this growing understanding, several research efforts have launched or will be launching large secondary prevention trials in AD. These and other efforts have clearly demonstrated a need for better measures of cognitive and functional change in people with the earliest changes associated with AD. Recent draft guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration further elevated the importance of cognitive and functional assessments in early stage clinical trials by proposing that even in the pre-symptomatic stages of the disease, approval will be contingent on demonstrating clinical meaningfulness. The Alzheimer's Association's Research Roundtable addressed these issues at its fall meeting October 28-29, 2013, in Washington, D.C. The focus of the discussion included the need for improved cognitive and functional outcome measures for clinical of participants with preclinical AD and those diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to AD.