Evidence suggests that impairment in caregiver wellbeing can alter the quality of care in children with sickle cell disease. We examined 121 parent caregivers of adolescents with sickle cell disease for emotional distress and disruptions to caregiver lifestyle and interests. Participants were predominantly mothers 92(76%) with mean age, 43.59 ( SD = 6.39) years. Four in every ten caregivers had emotional distress, and this was predicted by frequent hospital attendance and disruptions in caregiver lifestyle, relationships, and interests. Psychosocial support to promote resilience and adaptive coping-styles to deal with the stress from unforeseen crises, frequent hospital visits, and lifestyle disruptions are indicated to improve caregiver wellbeing.

BackgroundBy 2030, over 50% of individuals living with bipolar disorder (BD) are expected to be aged ≥50 years. However, older age bipolar disorder (OABD) remains understudied. There are limited large‐scale prospectively collected data organized in key dimensions capable of addressing several fundamental questions about BD affecting this subgroup of patients.MethodsWe developed initial recommendations for the essential dimensions for OABD data collection, based on (1) a systematic review of measures used in OABD studies, (2) a Delphi consensus of international OABD experts, (3) experience with harmonizing OABD data in the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE‐BD, n ≥ 4500 participants), and (4) critical feedback from 34 global experts in geriatric mental health.ResultsWe identified 15 key dimensions and variables within each that are relevant for the investigation of OABD: (1) demographics, (2) core symptoms of depression and (3) mania, (4) cognition screening and subjective cognitive function, (5) elements for BD diagnosis, (6) descriptors of course of illness, (7) treatment, (8) suicidality, (9) current medication, (10) psychiatric comorbidity, (11) psychotic symptoms, (12) general medical comorbidities, (13) functioning, (14) family history, and (15) other. We also recommend particular instruments for capturing some of the dimensions and variables.ConclusionThe essential data dimensions we present should be of use to guide future international data collection in OABD and clinical practice. In the longer term, we aim to establish a prospective consortium using this core set of dimensions and associated variables to answer research questions relevant to OABD.

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Background: Epilepsy is one of the commonest chronic neurological disorders, most especially in developing countries of the World. Again, electroencephalography (EEG) is an important investigation in epileptology and more so in monitoring seizure remission. Thus, in a resource constrained country like Nigeria, our study aimed to determine the epileptiform activities using routine EEG recordings on subjects in seizure remission compared to those subjects with active seizures. Methods: In our study, and following ethical approval, standard EEG recording was carried out on convenient samples of equal number (131) of subjects with active seizure and those in seizure remission using the “Neurofax” Electroencephalography, EEG-1200 (R) machine. The EEG machine was used to carry out an awake 22-channel EEG scalp recording on each subject. Results: Among subjects with active seizures, the mean duration of seizure was 2.80±2.44 years, with range of 0.5 to 12.0 years. For subjects in seizure remission (SSR), the mean duration of remission was 2.41±1.03 years, with range of 1 to 5 years. Out of the 131 subjects with seizure, 37 (28.3%) had normal EEG recording; and 94 (71.7%) had abnormal EEG recordings with various forms of epileptiform activities. On the other hand, of the 131 subjects in seizure remission (SSR), nearly half, 62 (47.3%) had normal EEG recording and 69(52.7%) had abnormal (epileptiform activities) recording. The difference in these EEG findings between the two study groups was significant with F=19.29, p=0.00*; t=-2.22, p=0.028*; and 95% Confidence Interval, CI=-0.70 to -0.40. Conclusion: In addition to clinical evaluation, routine EEG recording can be used to monitor seizure remission in resource constrained countries such as Nigeria.