Telephone-administered cognitive tests as tools for the identification of eligible study participants for population-based research in aging

The impact of diet quality on cognitive ability of Chinese older adults: evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between diet quality and cognitive performance, indicating that improving diet quality may be beneficial in preventing cognitive decline in older adults. However, few study has investigated the causal relationship between diet quality and cognitive performance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the causal effects of diet quality on cognitive performance in Chinese adults aged 55 years and older. Particularly, we utilize the Chinese Diet Quality Index (CHEI), a dietary assessment tool tailored for Chinese populations, as a proxy for older adults' diet quality.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]55 years old) conducted in 2004 and 2006. Cognitive function was tested by a subset of items from the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-Modified (TICS-m). Data on dietary intake was retrieved from three consecutive 24 hour recalls by participants and its quality was assessed by the 17-items Chinese Healthy Eating Index (CHEI). An Instrumental Variable technique was used to deal with the potential endogeneity of dietary quality. The instrumental variable used in our study is the community mean of CHEI.

RESULTS

After adjusting for socio-demographic factors (age, gender, education, per capita household income), lifestyle habits (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, BMI), and chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes), our findings revealed that improving diet quality had a significant positive effect on cognitive performance ([Formula: see text]), particularly in females aged 55-65 years ([Formula: see text]) and females with primary education and below ([Formula: see text]).

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that improving diet quality and adhering to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese may enhance cognitive performance in Chinese adults aged 55 years and older.

Specific olfactory deficit patterns observed in seniors and associated with cognitive decline

Olfactory dysfunction is a common symptom in neurodegenerative disorders and is regarded as a potential early predictor of impending cognitive decline. This study was undertaken in order to determine if olfactory dysfunction observed in the elderly is due to a general loss of smell or the inability to detect specific odours, and if misidentification of odours correlates with cognitive scores. Seniors for the Olfactory Response and Cognition in Aging (ORCA) sub-study were recruited from the Quebec Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge) cohort. The University of Pennsylvania smell identification test (UPSIT) was performed to measure olfactory function and the telephone Mini Mental State Examination (t-MMSE) and the French version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status Modified (F-TICS-m) for cognitive status. The results demonstrate that seniors exhibit specific olfactory loss and had severe difficulty in particular in identifying lemon, pizza, fruit punch, cheddar cheese and lime. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the ability to detect certain odours between the sexes. Results also showed that misidentification of certain scents was associated with cognitive scores, and when the sexes were assessed separately sex-specific misidentification of cognitive-associated odours was observed. The relationship between the cognitive scores and scent misidentification suggests that impending cognitive decline may be highlighted by the inability to smell specific odours. Our study provides additional support for the testing of olfactory function in the elderly and suggests that loss of smell for particular scents may become a useful diagnostic tool.

Foot and ankle Osteoarthritis and Cognitive impairment in retired UK Soccer players (FOCUS): protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study with general population controls

INTRODUCTION

Professional footballers commonly experience sports-related injury and repetitive microtrauma to the foot and ankle, placing them at risk of subsequent chronic pain and osteoarthritis (OA) of the foot and ankle. Similarly, repeated heading of the ball, head/neck injuries and concussion have been implicated in later development of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. A recent retrospective study found that death from neurodegenerative diseases was higher among former professional soccer players compared with age matched controls. However, well-designed lifetime studies are still needed to provide evidence regarding the prevalence of these conditions and their associated risk factors in retired professional football players compared with the general male population.

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether former professional male footballers have a higher prevalence than the general male population of: (1) foot/ankle pain and radiographic OA; and (2) cognitive and motor impairments associated with dementia and Parkinson's disease. Secondary objectives are to identify specific football-related risk factors such as head impact/concussion for neurodegenerative conditions and foot/ankle injuries for chronic foot/ankle pain and OA.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is a cross-sectional, comparative study involving a questionnaire survey with subsamples of responders being assessed for cognitive function by telephone assessment, and foot/ankle OA by radiographic examination. A sample of 900 adult, male, ex professional footballers will be recruited and compared with a control group of 1100 age-matched general population men between 40 and 100 years old. Prevalence will be estimated per group. Poisson regression will be performed to determine prevalence ratio between the populations and logistic regression will be used to examine risk factors associated with each condition in footballers.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study was approved by the East Midlands-Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee on 23 January 2020 (REC ref: 19/EM/0354). The study results will be disseminated at national and international meetings and submitted for peer-review publication.

Latent Structure of a Brief Clinical Battery of Neuropsychological Tests Administered In-Home Via Telephone

Objective

To examine the factor structure and sociodemographic correlates of a battery of clinical neuropsychological tests administered in-home and via telephone.

Method

Participants included 280 healthy adults who completed a 35–40 min battery consisting of seven auditory-verbal neuropsychological tests (i.e., 10 variables) that included digit span, list learning and memory, prospective memory, verbal fluency, and oral trail making.

Results

After removing oral trail making part A, a three-factor model comprised of executive functions, memory and attention demonstrated the best fit to the data. Nevertheless, the shared variance between the nine remaining neuropsychological variables was also adequately explained by a single-factor model and a two-factor model comprised of executive functions and memory. Factor scores were variably associated with education, race/ethnicity, and IQ, but not with sex or age.

Conclusions

Findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility and factor structure and sociodemographic correlates of a brief telephone-based screening neuropsychological battery comprised mostly of commonly administered clinical measures. Future studies are needed to determine the test–retest reliability, sensitivity, and ecological relevance of this battery, as well as equivalency to in-person assessment.

Cognitive Assessment via Telephone: A Scoping Review of Instruments

OBJECTIVE

Telephone-based cognitive assessment (TBCA) has long been studied but less widely adopted in routine neuropsychological practice. Increased interest in remote neuropsychological assessment techniques in the face of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic warrants an updated review of relevant remote assessment literature. While recent reviews of videoconference-based neuropsychological applications have been published, no updated compilation of empirical TBCA research has been completed. Therefore, this scoping review offers relevant empirical research to inform clinical decision-making specific to teleneuropsychology.

METHOD

Peer-reviewed studies addressing TBCA were included. Broad search terms were related to telephone, cognitive, or neuropsychological assessment and screening. After systematic searching of the PubMed and EBSCO databases, 139 relevant articles were retained.

RESULTS

In total, 17 unique cognitive screening measures, 20 cognitive batteries, and 6 single-task measures were identified as being developed or adapted specifically for telephone administration. Tables summarizing the identified cognitive assessments, information on diagnostic accuracy, and comparisons to face-to-face cognitive assessment are included in supplementary materials.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, literature suggests that TBCA is a viable modality for identifying cognitive impairment in various populations. However, the mode of assessment selected clinically should reflect an understanding of the purpose, evidence, and limitations for various tests and populations. Most identified measures were developed for research application to support gross cognitive characterization and to help determine when more comprehensive testing was needed. While TBCA is not meant to replace gold-standard, face-to-face evaluation, if appropriately utilized, it can expand scope of practice, particularly when barriers to standard neuropsychological assessment occur.

Relationship Between Pain, Opioid Treatment, and Delirium in Older Emergency Department Patients

OBJECTIVES

Emergency department (ED) stay and its associated conditions (immobility, inadequate hydration and nutrition, lack of stimulation) increase the risk of delirium in older patients. Poorly controlled pain and paradoxically opioid pain treatment have also been identified as triggers for delirium. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between pain, opioid treatment, and delirium in older ED patients.

METHODS

A multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted in four hospitals across the province of Québec (Canada). Patients aged ≥ 65 years old, waiting for hospital admission between March and July 2015, who were nondelirious upon ED arrival, who were independent or semi-independent in their daily living activities, and who had an ED stay of at least 8 hours were included. Delirium assessments were conducted twice a day during the patient's entire ED stay and their first 24 hours on the hospital ward using the Confusion Assessment Method. Pain intensity was evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS = 0-100) during the initial interview, and all opioid treatments were documented.

RESULTS

A total of 338 patients were included; 51% were female, and mean (±SD) age was 77 (±8) years. Forty-one patients (12%) experienced delirium during their hospital stay occurring within a mean (±SD) delay of 47 (±19) hours after ED admission. Among patients with pain intensity ≥ 65 from VAS (0-100), 26% experienced delirium compared to 11% for patients with pain < 65 (p < 0.01), and no significant association was found between opioid consumption and delirium (p = 0.31). Logistic regression controlling for confounding factors showed that patients with pain intensity ≥ 65 are 3.3 (95% confidence interval = 1.4 to 7.9) times more likely to develop delirium than patients who had pain intensity of <65.

CONCLUSIONS

Severe pain, not opioids, is associated with the development of delirium during ED stay. Adequate pain control during the hospital stay may contribute to a decrease in delirium episodes.

Dementia screening in elderly high-risk patients following heart failure decompensation may predict unfavorable long-term clinical outcomes

BACKGROUND

Recently heart failure (HF) has been found to be a new dementia risk factor; nevertheless, their relations in patients following HF decompensation remain unknown. We sought to investigate whether a screening diagnosis for dementia (SDD) in this high-risk population may predict unfavorable long-term clinical outcomes.

METHODS

One hundred forty-two patients following HF decompensation requiring hospitalization were enrolled. Within a median time of 55 months all patients were screened for dementia with ALFI-MMSE scale whereas their compliance was assessed with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Any incidents of myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), revascularization, HF hospitalization and bleedings during follow-up were collected.

RESULTS

SDD was established in 37 patients (26%) based on the result of an ALFI-MMSE score of <17 points. By multivariate analysis the lower results of the ALFI-MMSE score were associated with a history of stroke/TIA (β=-0.29, P<0.001), peripheral arterial disease (PAD) (β=-0.20, P=0.011) and lower glomerular filtration rate (β=0.24, P=0.009). During the follow-up, patients with SDD were more often rehospitalized following HF decompensation (48.7% vs. 28.6%, P=0.042) than patients without SDD, despite a similar level of compliance (P=0.25). Irrespective of stroke/TIA history, SDD independently increased the risk of rehospitalization due to HF decompensation (HR 2.22, 95% CI: 1.23-4.01, P=0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients following decompensated HF, a history of stroke/TIA, PAD and impaired renal function independently influenced SDD. In this high-risk population, SDD was not related with patients' compliance but irrespective of the stroke/TIA history it was associated with the increased risk of HF rehospitalization.

Functional Outcomes: One Year after a Cardiac Arrest

Objective. The study aim was to characterize the time-course of recovery in impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions, disability, and quality of life during the first year after cardiac arrest. Secondarily, the study described the associations between the instruments used to measure each of these domains. Methods. Measures of global disability (Cerebral Performance Category, CPC, Modified Rankin Scale, mRS), quality of life, activity limitations, participation restrictions, and affective and cognitive impairments were administered to 29 participants 1, 6, and 12 months after cardiac arrest. Results. Global measures of disability indicated recovery between one month and one year after cardiac arrest (mean CPC: 2.1 versus 1.69,  P < 0.05; mean mRS: 2.55 versus 1.83, P < 0.05). While global measures of disability were moderately associated with participation, they were poorly associated with other measures. The cohort endorsed depressive symptomatology throughout the year but did not have detectable cognitive impairment. Conclusions. Recovery from cardiac arrest is multifaceted and recovery continues for months depending upon the measures being used. Measures of global disability, reintegration into the community, and quality of life yield different information. Future clinical trials should include a combination of measures to yield the most complete representation of recovery after cardiac arrest.

Telephone-based screening tools for mild cognitive impairment and dementia in aging studies: a review of validated instruments

The decline of cognitive function in old age is a great challenge for modern society. The simultaneous increase in dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases justifies a growing need for accurate and valid cognitive assessment instruments. Although in-person testing is considered the most effective and preferred administration mode of assessment, it can pose not only a research difficulty in reaching large and diverse population samples, but it may also limit the assessment and follow-up of individuals with either physical or health limitations or reduced motivation. Therefore, telephone-based cognitive screening instruments can be an alternative and attractive strategy to in-person assessments. In order to give a current view of the state of the art of telephone-based tools for cognitive assessment in aging, this review highlights some of the existing instruments with particular focus on data validation, cognitive domains assessed, administration time and instrument limitations and advantages. From the review of the literature, performed using the databases EBSCO, Science Direct and PubMed, it was possible to verify that while telephone-based tools are useful in research and clinical practice, providing a promising approach, the methodologies still need refinement in the validation steps, including comparison with either single instruments or neurocognitive test batteries, to improve specificity and sensitivity to validly detect subtle changes in cognition that may precede cognitive impairment.

Screening by telephone in the Alzheimer's disease anti-inflammatory prevention trial

Compared with in-person assessment methods, telephone screening for dementia and other cognitive syndromes may improve efficiency of large population studies or prevention trials. We used data from the Alzheimer's Disease Anti-Inflammatory Prevention Trial to compare performance of a four-test Telephone Assessment Battery (TAB) that included the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) to that of a traditional in-person Cognitive Assessment Battery. Among 1,548 elderly participants with valid telephone and in-person screening results obtained within 90 days of each other, 225 persons were referred for a full cognitive diagnostic evaluation that was completed within six months of screening. Drawing on results from this panel of 225 individuals, we used the Capture-Recapture method to estimate population numbers of cognitively impaired participants. The latter estimates enabled us to compare the performance characteristics of the two screening batteries at specified cut-offs for detection of dementia and milder forms of impairment. Although our results provide relatively imprecise estimates of the performance characteristics of the two batteries, a comparison of their relative performance suggests that, at selected cut-off points, the TAB produces results broadly comparable to in-person screening and may be slightly more sensitive in detecting mild impairment. TAB performance characteristics also appeared slightly better than those of the TICS alone. Given its benefits in time and cost when screening for cognitive disorders, telephone screening should be considered for large samples.

Monitoring cognitive functioning: psychometric properties of the brief test of adult cognition by telephone

Assessment of cognitive functioning is an important component of telephone surveys of health. Previous cognitive telephone batteries have been limited in scope with a primary focus on dementia screening. The Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) assesses multiple dimensions central for effective functioning across adulthood: episodic memory, working memory, reasoning, verbal fluency, and executive function. The BTACT is the first instrument that includes measures of processing speed, reaction time, and task-switching/inhibitory control for use over the telephone. We administered the battery to a national sample (N = 4,268), age 32 to 84 years, from the study of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) and examined age, education, and sex differences; reliability; and factor structure. We found good evidence for construct validity with a subsample tested in person. Implications of the findings are considered for efficient neuropsychological assessment and monitoring changes in cognitive aging, for clinical and research applications by telephone or in person.

Bi-factor analyses of the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone

BACKGROUND

Telephone cognitive batteries are useful for large-scale screening and epidemiological studies, but their brevity and lack of content depth may cause psychometric limitations that hinder their utility.

OBJECTIVE

The current study addressed some of these limitations by rescaling the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT; Tun & Lachman, 2006) using modern psychometric methods.

METHODS

Archival data were obtained from a national sample of 4,212 28 to 84-year-old volunteers in the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (Ryff et al., 2007) Cognitive Project (Ryff & Lachman, 2007). We fit a bi-factor model to a combination of item-level, subscale-level, and scale-level data.

RESULTS

The best fitting model contained a general factor and secondary factors capturing test-specific method effects or residual correlations for Number Series, Red/Green Test, and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Factor scores generated from this model were compared with conventional BTACT scores. Important score differences (i.e., >0.3 standard deviation units) were found in 28% of the sample. The bi-factor scores demonstrated slightly superior validity than conventional BTACT scores when judged against a number of clinical and demographic criterion variables.

CONCLUSIONS

Modern psychometric approaches to scoring the BTACT have the benefit of linear scaling and a modest criterion validity advantage.