Clinical Spectrum, Risk Factors, and Behavioral Abnormalities among Dementia Subtypes in a North Indian Population: A Hospital-Based Study

Comprehensive Analysis of Dementia Types and Risk Factors: A Study From a Tertiary Care Center in India

Background and objective Dementia is a prevalent clinical syndrome characterized by memory impairment and cognitive dysfunction. Its global burden is expected to rise significantly, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Understanding the spectrum of dementia types and associated risk factors is crucial for effective management. This study aims to elucidate the demographic profiles, clinical types, and risk factors of newly diagnosed dementia cases at a tertiary care hospital in India. Methods and materials A cross-sectional, hospital-based observational study was conducted on 81 patients at the Department of Medicine, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital, and Research Centre, Pimpri, Pune, from February 2022 to January 2024. Ethical approval was obtained, and written consent was obtained from participants. Clinical diagnosis was based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) criteria, supported by cognitive assessment tools and laboratory/radiological investigations. Inclusion criteria encompassed individuals aged 18 years or older, presenting with clinical symptoms suggestive of dementia, having a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of less than 24 and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score of less than 25, according to DSM-V criteria for dementia. Exclusion criteria included individuals with a history of head trauma or those below 18 years of age. Results Of the 81 participants, the majority (74.1%) were over 60 years old, with females comprising 59.3% of the sample. Alzheimer's disease was the most prevalent dementia subtype (34.5%), followed by vascular dementia (19.7%) and mixed dementia (13.5%). Other causes included Lewy body dementia (2.46%), Parkinson's dementia (4.9%), frontotemporal dementia (4.9%), and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (1.2%). Reversible causes accounted for a significant proportion of cases: alcohol-associated dementia (6.1%), hypothyroid-associated dementia (3.7%), HIV-associated dementia (2.46%), herpes simplex dementia (1.2%), neurosyphilis-associated dementia (1.2%), and normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH)-associated dementia (2.4%). Analysis of risk factors revealed distinct patterns among different dementia types, emphasizing the role of cardiovascular and metabolic health. Conclusion This study provides insights into the demographic profiles, clinical types, and dementia risk factors in India. Addressing causes and managing cardiovascular/metabolic health is crucial for dementia prevention and management. Comprehensive care strategies and ongoing research efforts are essential for improving dementia outcomes and enhancing the quality of life for affected individuals and their families.

Risk of impairment in cognitive instrumental activities of daily living for sexual and gender minority adults with reported Parkinson's disease

Objective: To investigate the risk of impairment in cognitive instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) for people with Parkinson's (PwP) identifying as sexual and/or gender minorities (SGM). Method: Data were obtained from Fox Insight, an online, longitudinal study with self/informant-report questionnaires from PwP and people without Parkinson's. Groups consisted of PwP without cognitive IADL impairment at baseline, identifying as (1) SGM with female sex assigned at birth (SGM-F, n = 75); (2) cisgender, heterosexual with female sex assigned at birth (CH-F, n = 2046); (3) SGM with male sex assigned at birth (SGM-M, n = 84); (4) cisgender, heterosexual with male sex assigned at birth (CH-M, n = 2056). Impairment in cognitive IADL was based on Penn Parkinson's Daily Activities Questionnaire-15 (PDAQ-15). Group differences for PDAQ-15 and impairment likelihood during follow-up were assessed with unadjusted models and adjusting for variables that differed between the groups. Results: SGM-F were the youngest at Parkinson's diagnosis; SGM-M had the lowest PDAQ-15 at baseline (p ≤ .014 for all). Scores declined more for males than females in unadjusted and adjusted models (p < .001 for both). In unadjusted models, SGM-M had a higher impairment risk than PwP identifying as cisgender and heterosexual (p ≤ .018). In adjusted models, females had a lower impairment risk than males (p < .001). Age, education, and discrimination level were significant moderators (p < .001 for all). Conclusions: SGM-M can be at a higher risk for impairment in cognitive IADL, associated with social determinants. Female sex assigned at birth may be associated with a lower level of impairment risk, although this advantage can disappear with social determinants.

Particulate Matter in Human Elderly: Higher Susceptibility to Cognitive Decline and Age-Related Diseases

This review highlights the significant impact of air quality, specifically particulate matter (PM), on cognitive decline and age-related diseases in the elderly. Despite established links to other pathologies, such as respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, there is a pressing need for increased attention to the association between air pollution and cognitive aging, given the rising prevalence of neurocognitive disorders. PM sources are from diverse origins, including industrial activities and combustion engines, categorized into PM10, PM2.5, and ultrafine PM (UFPM), and emphasized health risks from both outdoor and indoor exposure. Long-term PM exposure, notably PM2.5, has correlated with declines in cognitive function, with a specific vulnerability observed in women. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been explored due to the interplay between them, PM exposure, and human aging, highlighting the crucial role of EVs, especially exosomes, in mediating the complex relationship between PM exposure and chronic diseases, particularly neurological disorders. To sum up, we have compiled the pieces of evidence that show the potential contribution of PM exposure to cognitive aging and the role of EVs in mediating PM-induced cognitive impairment, which presents a promising avenue for future research and development of therapeutic strategies. Finally, this review emphasizes the need for policy changes and increased public awareness to mitigate air pollution, especially among vulnerable populations such as the elderly.

The Prevalence of Comorbidities and Associated Factors among Patients with Dementia in the Indian Setting: Meta-analysis of Observational Studies

BACKGROUND

Patients with dementia usually have multiple comorbidities. The presence of comorbidities may exacerbate the progression of dementia and decreases the patient's ability to participate in health maintenance activities. However, there is hardly any meta-analysis estimating the magnitude of comorbidities among patients with dementia in the Indian context.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, and relevant studies conducted in India were included. The risk of bias was assessed and a random-effects meta-analysis model was used in which I2 statistics were calculated to measure heterogeneity among studies.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analysis based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Altogether, we found the coexistence of comorbid conditions such as hypertension (51.10%), diabetes (27.58%), stroke (15.99%), and factors like tobacco use (26.81 %) and alcohol use (9.19%) among patients with dementia in this setting. The level of heterogeneity was high due to differences in the methodologies in the included studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study found hypertension as the most common comorbid condition among patients with dementia in India. The observed lacuna of methodological limitations in the studies included in the current meta-analysis provides the urgent need for good quality research to successfully meet the challenges ahead while devising appropriate strategies to treat the comorbidities among patients with dementia.

Indian Psychiatric Society multicentre study: Diagnostic patterns, comorbidity and prescription practices for patients with Dementia

BACKGROUND

There are more than 5 million people with dementia in India. Multicentre studies looking at details of treatment for people with dementia In India are lacking. Clinical audit is a quality improvement process which aims to systematically assess, evaluate, and improve patient care. Evaluating current practice is the key to a clinical audit cycle.

AIM

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic patterns and prescribing practices of psychiatrists for patients with dementia in India.

METHOD

A retrospective case file study was conducted across several centers in India.

RESULTS

Information from the case records of 586 patients with dementia was obtained. Mean age of the patients was 71.14 years (standard deviation = 9.42). Three hundred twenty one (54.8%) were men. Alzheimer's disease (349; 59.6%) was the most frequent diagnosis followed by vascular dementia (117; 20%). Three hundred fifty five (60.6%) patients had medical disorders and 47.4% patients were taking medications for their medical conditions. Eighty one (69.2%) patients with vascular dementia had cardiovascular problems. Majority of the patients (524; 89.4%) were on medications for dementia. Most frequently prescribed treatment was Donepezil (230; 39.2%) followed by Donepezil-Memantine combination (225; 38.4%). Overall, 380 (64.8%) patients were on antipsychotics. Quetiapine (213, 36.3%) was the most frequently used antipsychotic. Overall, 113 (19.3%) patients were on antidepressants, 80 (13.7%) patients were on sedatives/hypnotics, and 16 (2.7%) patients were on mood stabilizers. Three hundred nineteen (55.4%) patients and caregivers of 374 (65%) patients were receiving psychosocial interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Diagnostic and prescription patterns in dementia which emerged from this study are comparable to other studies both nationally and internationally. Comparing current practices at individual and national levels against accepted guidelines, obtaining feedback, identifying gaps and instituting remedial measures help to improve the standard of care provided.

The congruency of neuropsychological and F18-FDG brain PET/CT diagnostics of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in routine clinical practice: insights from a mixed neurological patient cohort

Background

Diagnostics of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) require a multimodal approach. Neuropsychologists examine the degree and etiology of dementia syndromes and results are combined with those of cerebrospinal fluid markers and imaging data. In the diagnostic process, neuropsychologists often rely on anamnestic and clinical information, as well as cognitive tests, prior to the availability of exhaustive etiological information. The congruency of this phenomenological approach with results from FDG-PET/CT examinations remains to be explored. The latter yield highly accurate diagnostic information.

Method

A mixed sample of N = 127 hospitalized neurological patients suspected of displaying a dementia syndrome underwent extensive neuropsychological and FDG-PET/CT examinations. Neuropsychological examinations included an anamnestic and clinical interview, and the CERAD cognitive test battery. Two decisional approaches were considered: First, routine diagnostic results were obtained, i.e. the final clinical decision of the examining neuropsychologist (AD_Clinical vs. non-AD_Clinical). Secondly, a logistic regression model was implemented, relying on CERAD profiles alone. CERAD subscales that best predicted AD based on FDG-PET/CT were identified and a nominal categorization obtained (AD_Test vs. non-AD_Test). Congruency of results from both approaches with those of the FDG-PET/CT (AD_PET vs. non-AD_PET) were estimated with Cohen’s Kappa (κ) and Yule’s Y coefficient of colligation. Descriptive estimates of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of CERAD relative to FDG-PET/CT diagnostics were derived.

Results

AD_PET patients constituted N = 33/127 (26%) of the sample. The clinical decision approach (AD_Clinical vs. non-AD_Clinical) showed substantial agreement with the FDG-PET/CT classification (κ = .69, Y = .72) involving good accuracy (84.2%), moderate sensitivity (75.8%) and excellent specificity (92.6%). In contrast, the decisional approach that relied on CERAD data alone (AD_Test vs. non-AD_Test) involved only moderate agreement with the FDG-PET/CT (κ = .54, Y = .62) with lower accuracy (74.8%), attributable to decreased sensitivity (56.3%) and comparable specificity (93.3%).

Conclusions

It is feasible to identify AD through a comprehensive neuropsychological examination in a mixed sample of neurological patients. However, within the boundaries of methods applied here, decisions based on cognitive test results alone appear limited. One may conclude that the clinical impression based on anamnestic and clinical information obtained by the neuropsychological examiner plays a crucial role in the identification of AD patients in routine clinical practice.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12883-022-02614-4.

Identifying and evaluating clinical subtypes of Alzheimer's disease in care electronic health records using unsupervised machine learning

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a highly heterogeneous disease with diverse trajectories and outcomes observed in clinical populations. Understanding this heterogeneity can enable better treatment, prognosis and disease management. Studies to date have mainly used imaging or cognition data and have been limited in terms of data breadth and sample size. Here we examine the clinical heterogeneity of Alzheimer's disease patients using electronic health records (EHR) to identify and characterise disease subgroups using multiple clustering methods, identifying clusters which are clinically actionable.

METHODS

We identified AD patients in primary care EHR from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) using a previously validated rule-based phenotyping algorithm. We extracted and included a range of comorbidities, symptoms and demographic features as patient features. We evaluated four different clustering methods (k-means, kernel k-means, affinity propagation and latent class analysis) to cluster Alzheimer's disease patients. We compared clusters on clinically relevant outcomes and evaluated each method using measures of cluster structure, stability, efficiency of outcome prediction and replicability in external data sets.

RESULTS

We identified 7,913 AD patients, with a mean age of 82 and 66.2% female. We included 21 features in our analysis. We observed 5, 2, 5 and 6 clusters in k-means, kernel k-means, affinity propagation and latent class analysis respectively. K-means was found to produce the most consistent results based on four evaluative measures. We discovered a consistent cluster found in three of the four methods composed of predominantly female, younger disease onset (43% between ages 42-73) diagnosed with depression and anxiety, with a quicker rate of progression compared to the average across other clusters.

CONCLUSION

Each clustering approach produced substantially different clusters and K-Means performed the best out of the four methods based on the four evaluative criteria. However, the consistent appearance of one particular cluster across three of the four methods potentially suggests the presence of a distinct disease subtype that merits further exploration. Our study underlines the variability of the results obtained from different clustering approaches and the importance of systematically evaluating different approaches for identifying disease subtypes in complex EHR.

Cognitive Impairment and Associated Factors in Rural Elderly in North China

BACKGROUND

China has the largest population living with dementia globally and urban-rural differences are significant in prevalence, risk factors, and health resources. Epidemiologic studies on cognitive impairment in rural areas are limited in China and other low- and middle-income countries.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated cognitive impairment and associated factors in rural elderly aged 65 years and over in China.

METHODS

In total, 1,250 participants from ten villages in North China were recruited from June to September, 2017. Face-to-face structured interviews were conducted for data collection. The interviews included socio-demographic information, health status, and psychological assessments. Cognitive function was assessed using the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. A multivariate logistic regression model with backward method was employed to identify factors associated with cognitive impairment.

RESULTS

The positive rate of cognitive impairment among rural Chinese elderly aged 65 years and older was 42.9% (95% CI, 40.1-45.6). No significant differences were found in cognitive impairment by age or gender before the age of 75 years. Older age, lack of formal school education, reliance on the basic living allowance as the only income source, poor hearing and vision function, diabetes, and activities of daily living dependence were associated with higher rate of cognitive impairment, while tea consumption and fatty liver disease were associated with lower cognitive impairment rate.

CONCLUSION

A very high percentage of rural elderly in China had cognitive impairment. Education programs and prevention interventions targeting modifiable risk factors among high-risk populations should be developed through collective efforts involving all stakeholders.

Rehabilitation in Dementia

Dementia is an eurodegenerative disorder, which causes significant disability, especially among the elderly population worldwide. The affected person shows a progressive cognitive decline, which interferes with the independence in performing the activities of daily living. Other than the cognitive domain, the patient tends to have neuropsychiatric, behavioral, sensorimotor, speech, and language-related issues. It is expected that the global burden of the disease will rise with more people entering the geriatric age group. By 2050 close, to 140 million people will be living with one or the other type of dementia. Alzheimer's disease contributes to more than 60% of cases worldwide, followed by vascular dementia. Pharmacotherapy has a limited role to play in the treatment, and at present, no drug is available, which can halt or reverse the progress of the disease. World Health Organization has mandated rehabilitation as a core recommendation in the global action plan on the public health response to dementia. Rehabilitation services are widely recognized as a practical framework to maximize independence and community participation in dementia care. The rehabilitation program is customized to achieve the desired goals, as each person has different experiences, preferences, motivations, strengths, and requirements based on type, course, and severity of the illness. It is an interdisciplinary-team approach with the involvement of several health care professionals. This article reviews the existing literature and outlines the effective rehabilitation strategies concisely in dementia care.