Cognitive and behavioral status in Japanese ALS patients: a multicenter study

Watanabe, Yasuhiro; Raaphorst, Joost; Izumi, Yuishin; Yoshino, Hiide; Ito, Satoru; Adachi, Tadashi; Takigawa, Hiroshi; Masuda, Mitsuharu; Atsuta, Naoki; Adachi, Yoshiki; Isose, Sagiri; Arai, Kimihito; Yokota, Osamu; Oda, Masaya; Ogino, Mieko; Ichikawa, Hiroo; Hasegawa, Kazuko; Kimura, Hideki; Shimizu, Toshio; Aiba, Ikuko; Yabe, Hayato; Kanba, Makoto; Kusumi, Kimiyoshi; Aoki, Tetsuya; Hiroe, Yu; Watanabe, Haruo; Nishiyama, Kazutoshi; Nomoto, Masahiro; Sobue, Gen; Beeldman, Emma; Hanajima, Ritsuko; Nakashima, Kenichiro

doi:10.1007/s00415-019-09655-9

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In concordance with this suggestion from our study, a past research described that, in clinical settings, Japanese neurologists should pay more attention to the cognitive and behavioral aspects of patients with ALS ( Watanabe et al, 2020 ). Another study conducted with Japanese nurses clarified that, although 60% of them were aware of the cognitive impairments associated with ALS, they only learned about this within the last 1 or 2 years and through their own clinical experience ( Ushikubo et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Practical Measures for Dealing With the Struggles of Nurses Caring for People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Comorbid With Cognitive Impairment in Japan

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no cure. This study aimed to explore the situations with which nurses struggled, their implemented practical measures, and the challenges they experienced when caring for patients with ALS comorbid with cognitive impairment (hereinafter, targeted patients). In this qualitative study, we conducted a survey with nurses (n = 121) experienced in caring for ALS patients; the survey contained a free-writing section in which participants described their struggles regarding care delivery for these patients. To collect data on practical measures that nurses had already implemented or wanted to propose regarding care delivery for the targeted patients, we conducted four focus group interviews (n = 22). We used a qualitative inductive approach to extract the categories. Fifty-eight nurses (49.6%) completed the free-writing survey section. The situations in which nurses struggled in care for the targeted patients were organized into three categories: “Patients’ strong persistency on specific requirements for nursing assistance in their daily lives,” “Patients’ problematic behaviors toward nurses,” and “Struggles in communicating with and understanding patients’ wishes.” Nurses reported these situations as stressful, and they affected care quality. The practical measures implemented when caring for the targeted patients were organized into five categories: “Cognitive impairment assessment,” “Care delivery to deal with patients’ strong persistency on specific requirements for assistance in their daily lives,” “Communication,” “Supporting the decision-making process,” and “Collaboration between the hospital and the community.” Multidisciplinary collaboration in the hospital, and collaboration between the hospital and the community from an early stage is necessary to share the results of the assessment and diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Our evidence underlines that guideline and care manual establishment may lead to improved care delivery and to the unification of care deliveries to respond to patients’ strong persistency.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Practical Measures for Dealing With the Struggles of Nurses Caring for People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Comorbid With Cognitive Impairment in Japan

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We recently reported that lower MoCA and FAB scores were associated with higher age at onset (23). In this report, we speculated that agerelated brain changes, independent from ALS/ FTD pathology (e.g., nonspecific cognitive impairment by aging or subclinical AD pathology), might in part contribute to this observation, as we could not analyze ALS-specific and ALS-nonspecific domains separately (23). However, the present study clearly indicated that the ALS-specific score of the ECAS was moderately negatively correlated with age at onset (rs ¼ À0.36) (Table 4) while the ALS-nonspecific score of the ECAS did not (rs ¼ À0.…”

Section: Comparison Between Groups and Relation To Clinical Featuresmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) for Japanese ALS and FTD patients

Watanabe

Ogino

Ichikawa

et al. 2020

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients might present with cognitive and behavioural abnormalities resembling frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) was developed as an easy to administer cognitive screen for detecting these symptoms. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a Japanese version of the ECAS. Methods: In this single centre observational study, 35 ALS patients and 28 healthy controls were enrolled. Three patients in the ALS group fulfilled the criteria for behavioural variant FTD (ALS-FTD) and the rest were grouped as ALS without FTD. Participants were subjected to the Japanese version of the ECAS. ALS patients were also subjected to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Frontal Assessment Battery, ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised, and respiratory function testing. Demographic and disease characteristics (e.g., sex, age at examination, and years of education) were also recorded. Results: Internal consistency and correlations with general cognitive screenings were sufficient in the Japanese adaptation. Executive functions were the most commonly affected ECAS domain, followed by fluency and language. Compared to control subjects, ALS patients without FTD had low scores in the ECAS ALS-specific functions but not in ALS-nonspecific functions. Meanwhile ALS-FTD patients markedly underperformed both in the ECAS ALS-specific and ALS-nonspecific functions. Furthermore, the Japanese ECAS score correlated positively with years of education and negatively with age at onset. Conclusion: The Japanese version of the ECAS is a valid and useful screening tool to identify multiple types of cognitive impairment in ALS patients.

show abstract

“…One study suggested that neurologists in clinical settings should pay more attention to the cognitive and behavioral aspects of patients with ALS. 8 Nurses working in various care facilities should also recognize comorbid ALS and cognitive impairment by receiving training to upgrade their knowledge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nurses’ Awareness of Cognitive Impairment in Individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Ushikubo

Ohtani

Kawabata

2021

kmj

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The number of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who also have cognitive impairment has increased. The purpose was to elucidate nurses' awareness of patients with comorbid ALS and cognitive impairment. Methods: We conducted a survey of nurses with experience in supporting individuals with ALS, using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire collected information on the participant characteristics, awareness of the presence of cognitive impairment in ALS, their experience in supporting ALS patients with cognitive impairments, and their educational needs. We used descriptive statistics. Results: We analyzed 117 questionnaires (response rate: 68.0％). Seventy-one nurses (60.7％) were aware of the cognitive impairments associated with ALS, and had only learned about this within the last one or two years, through their own clinical experience. 55 nurses (43.6％) had current or past experience supporting patients with comorbid cognitive impairment and ALS. Approximately 20％ of whom answered that never had cared for ALS patients diagnosed with cognitive impairment had experience of supporting an ALS patient suspected of having cognitive impairment. More than 80％ of the respondents expressed their wishes to receive recurrent education regarding ALS patients with cognitive impairment. Conclusions: The nurses in this study did not have a comprehensive understanding of cognitive impairment in ALS. Nurses need to be aware of the overlap in symptoms of ALS and cognitive impairment by receiving training to upgrade their knowledge.

show abstract

Cognitive and behavioral status in Japanese ALS patients: a multicenter study

Cited by 16 publications

References 33 publications

Practical Measures for Dealing With the Struggles of Nurses Caring for People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Comorbid With Cognitive Impairment in Japan

Practical Measures for Dealing With the Struggles of Nurses Caring for People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Comorbid With Cognitive Impairment in Japan

The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) for Japanese ALS and FTD patients

Nurses’ Awareness of Cognitive Impairment in Individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About