Effectiveness of a Visual Imagery Training Program to Improve Prospective Memory in Older Adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Study

Time-Based and Event-Based Prospective Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform planned actions in a future moment and it is of fundamental importance for an independent and autonomous lifestyle from development to late adulthood. Deficits in episodic memory and executive functions, which are involved in PM are characteristic features of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considering that the number of older adults is drastically increasing over the next decades, it is of great interest to understand how PM decline in healthy older adults and patients with different degree of cognitive decline. The present meta-analysis included 46 studies investigating PM performance in AD patients (17 studies) and people with MCI (24 studies); 5 studies included both clinical conditions in the same article. The 46 studies contributed a total of 63 independent samples and 129 effect sizes from 4668 participants (2115 patients and 2553 controls). Unlike previous reviews of the literature, our results with a larger and updated sample of studies confirmed lower PM abilities in AD compared to MCI and controls, although we did not observe conclusive differences between event-based and time-based PM in patients. Surprisingly, PM deficits shown by MCI and AD patients have decreased across years, in parallel to a reduction of the evidence of publication bias and an increase in the number of observations per task. We propose the use of more reliable research designs as one plausible explanation for the reduction of PM impairments.

Assessment of the Medical Reliability of Videos on Social Media: Detailed Analysis of the Quality and Usability of Four Social Media Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube)

Introduction: In recent years, the internet and social media have become the primary source for patients to research their medical conditions. Given the billions of links that result from research, it has become increasingly important how medically high quality the priorities of the search algorithms are. This study aims to examine the medical quality of videos on social media. Material and Method: A new Gmail account was never used, and Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube accounts were opened. The word “knee replacement” was searched via social media. The video duration, daily views, total views, number of likes, source, and shared content were recorded. The parameters were statistically evaluated using the scales JAMA, GQS, DISCERN, and VPI to measure the quality of the medical posts. Results: Correlations were found between JAMA, GQS, and DISCERN. No correlation between the VPI scales with other scales was found. It was found that the promotional content in videos other than Instagram was very high (56–70%). Academics and healthcare workers produced greater quality content than other groups. There is a clear dominance of healthcare practitioners on Instagram. The most shared content was informative, depending on the content. The most frequent users were alternative health practitioners. While YouTube had the highest JAMA, GQC, and DISCERN (2.98, 3.18, 37.5) scores, the lowest VPI (0.761) score was found. Discussion and Conclusions: It has been shown that Instagram and Twitter are not the right places to share videos with medical content. However, everyone should remember that Instagram is the best place to share short but popular videos. YouTube and Facebook are available resources to share videos of better medical quality with a higher score than others. We can say that the most reliable medical sources are Facebook and YouTube videos of physicians and medical staff.

A Systematic Review of Prospective Memory Interventions Across Stages of Dementia-Related Disorders

BACKGROUND

There is a critical need to develop effective interventions for cognitive impairments associated with dementia-related disorders (i.e., Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, mild cognitive impairment). Prospective memory (PM), or the ability to create and carry out future intentions, is one cognitive domain that is impaired in individuals with dementia-related disorders. Effective treatment of PM could significantly improve daily functioning, level of independence, and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE

To date, there have been a number of studies investigating potential interventions, but these interventions have not been comprehensively reviewed and compared across the stages of dementia-related disorders, as is the aim of the current review.

METHODS

This review examined 21 studies on the success of intervention strategies for prospective memory in patients with dementia-related disorders.

RESULTS

All the studies demonstrated positive effects of intervention on PM abilities, but there are questions concerning ecological validity, length of positive effects on PM, and a lack of diversity of interventions across the different stages of dementia-related disorders.

CONCLUSION

Future research should address these issues by incorporating daily functioning activities and caregiver support into the intervention process, as well as investigating these interventions at more severe stages of dementia-related disorders.