Performance on cognitive tests, instrumental activities of daily living and depressive symptoms of a community-based sample of elderly adults in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Modified Brief Cognitive Screening Battery - Indonesian Version: cross-cultural adaptation and normative data based on demographic factors in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Introduction

Key component of early detection of dementia is a brief and culturally appropriate cognitive screening tool. This study aimed to perform a cultural adaptation of the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) and to obtain normative data from the older adult population.

Methods

Cross-cultural adaptation process to develop BCSB-INA was performed. This was followed by a feasibility study from community dwelling older adults from several urban and rural areas in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Results

The BCSB-INA was generally well understood and showed not much discrepancy in translation from the original version. There were differences in semantic and phonemic fluency and CDT based on years of education, but no difference was found on other domain, including the delayed recall of the FMT. The battery was more influenced by age than education.

Discussion

The BCSB-INA is culturally appropriate and feasible to be used in population with heterogenous educational background in Indonesia.

Depressive symptoms may be associated with semantic memory decline in elderly adults

Depressive symptoms are associated with a decline of episodic memory, but the relationship with semantic memory remains unclear.

The Figure Memory Test: diagnosis of memory impairment in populations with heterogeneous educational background

Diagnosis of cognitive impairment is usually difficult in low-educated individuals. The Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) was designed as a screening tool for the evaluation of cognitive impairment in low-educated individuals, but it may also be used for evaluating individuals with high educational level.

OBJECTIVES

To perform a narrative review analyzing the origin of the BCSB, to report all studies that have used the Figure Memory Test (FMT) of the BCSB, and to demonstrate that it is a useful battery for regions where populations have heterogeneous educational background.

METHODS

We performed a search in PubMed, SciELO, and LILACS using the terms "Brief Cognitive Screening Battery" and "Brief Cognitive Battery".

RESULTS

We obtained 49 papers from PubMed, 32 from SciELO, and 28 from LILACS. After the exclusion of duplicate papers, 54 publications were obtained; five more studies were included from previous knowledge of the authors. Twenty-four papers were related to the impact of education on performance, diagnostic accuracy, cutoff scores and normative studies. The delayed recall of the FMT showed the best accuracy for the diagnosis of dementia with a cutoff score of ≤5 in different education levels. In 35 papers, the FMT of the BCSB was used in clinical studies with different settings, from outpatient memory clinics to epidemiological studies and evaluation of Amazon river basin dwelling individuals, and it was always considered to be easy to apply.

CONCLUSIONS

The FMT of the BCSB is an easy and short tool for the diagnosis of dementia in populations with heterogeneous educational background.

Cognition and quality of life relationship among the elderly community: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

to assess cognitive functions and their association with quality of life among elderly people enrolled in a Family Health Unit (FHU) of Primary Health Care in Recife-PE.

METHODS

a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study in which elderly aged 60 years and over were studied.

RESULTS

76.7% of the elderly were women and the age group was less than or equal to 70 years. 68.6% had cognitive impairment, and in the quality of life assessment it was found that the social participation facet had the highest mean score among the elderly (14.25), while the lowest was observed in the sensory functioning facet (9.10). There was an association between cognitive decline and quality of life.

CONCLUSION

most of the elderly had good quality of life rates, but low cognitive level. Using screening tools allows early detection of health problems, guiding the nursing staff in the construction of preventive measures.