Comparison of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living assessment by face-to-face or telephone interviews: a randomized, crossover study

Background

The functional autonomy assessment is essential to manage patients with a neurodegenerative disease, but its evaluation is not always possible during a consultation. To optimize ambulatory autonomy assessment, we compared the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) questionnaire collected by telephone and face-to-face interviews.

Methods

A randomized, crossover study was carried out among patients attending a memory clinic (MC). The IADL questionnaire was collected for patients during telephone and face-to-face interviews between nurses and patients’ caregivers. The agreement between the two methods was measured using the proportion of participants giving the same response, Cohen’s kappa, intraclass correlation (ICC) coefficient, and Bland and Altman method. The associations between patients’ characteristics, events occurring between the two assessments, and agreement were assessed.

Results

Among the 292 patients (means ± SD age 81.5 ± 7, MMSE 19.6 ± 6, 39.7% with major neurocognitive disorders) analyzed, the proportion of agreement between the two modes was 89.4% for the total IADL score. Weighted kappa coefficient was 0.66 and ICC score was 0.91 for total IADL score. The mean difference between the IADL score by telephone or face-to-face was 0.32. Overall, 96.9% of measures lay within the 95% limits of agreement. The occurrence of fall was less likely associated with the probability to lie within the 95% limits of agreement (OR = 0.07 [0.02–0.27]).

Conclusion

The administration of IADL by telephone with the caregiver appears to be an acceptable method of assessment for MC patients compared to face-to-face interview. The events such as falls which could occur in a time close to the evaluation should be reported.

Study registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02654574. Retrospectively registered: 13 January 2016

[Dementia and non-pharmacological therapy, the effectiveness of play]

A study was carried out to look into the effectiveness of play and the ways it can be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. An intervention founded on the principal of a recreational setting, taking into account the choice of objects, the layout of the space and the role of the professional, could present itself as a form of therapeutic mediation adapted to this pathology. This study shows that play helps to reduce the behavioural problems of residents with Alzheimer's disease, and boosted their wellbeing and quality of life.

Performance of cognitive tests, individually and combined, for the detection of cognitive disorders amongst community-dwelling elderly people with memory complaints: the EVATEM study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Dementia is a leading cause of dependence amongst the aged population. Early identification of cognitive impairment could help to delay advanced stages of dependence. This study aimed at assessing the performance of three neuropsychological tests to detect cognitive disorders in elderly subjects with memory complaints.

METHODS

The EVATEM study is a prospective multicentre cohort with a 1-year follow-up. Subjects with memory complaints were selected during preventive health examinations, and three neuropsychological tests (five-word, cognitive disorders examination, verbal fluency) were administered. Two groups were identified in memory clinics: (i) cognitively healthy individuals (CHI) and (ii) mild cognitive impairment or demented individuals (MCI-DI). Cross-sectional analyses were performed on data at inclusion. The relationship between the diagnosis of MCI-DI/CHI and the neuropsychological tests was assessed using logistic regressions. The performance of the neuropsychological tests, individually and combined, to detect cognitive disorders was calculated.

RESULTS

Of 585 subjects, 31.11% had cognitive disorders (MCI, 176 subjects; DI, six subjects). Amongst the three tests studied, the odds ratio for MCI-DI was higher for the five-word test <10 [odds ratio 3.2 (1.81; 5.63)]. The best performance was observed when the three tests were combined: specificity 90.5% and sensitivity 42.4% compared to respectively 89.2% and 28.3% for the five-word test.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the poor sensitivity of the five-word test, it seems to be the most adapted for the diagnosis of MCI-DI in older adults with a memory complaint, in prevention centres, taking into account its high specificity and its rapid administration compared to the other tests.

Initial memory deficit profiles in patients with a cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer's disease signature

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical onset is usually characterized by a memory complaint and a progressive memory deficit. The proportion of typical medial-temporal amnesia revealing AD remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE

The present study explores the episodic memory impairment profiles by the Free and Cued Selective Recall Reminding Test (FCSRT) in patients with initial memory complaint and a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker signature of AD.

METHODS

Seventy-three patients referred for memory complaint to the Centers for Memory, Resource and Research of Lyon and Montpellier (France) were included consecutively. All patients underwent an extensive neuropsychological examination and had a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≥20 and a positive CSF AD signature. The patients were classified as having mild dementia or prodromal AD. Verbal episodic memory was assessed using the French version of the FCSRT exploring encoding, storage/consolidation, and cued delayed retrieval phases of memorization. Three different memory profiles were identified according to the results of FCSRT.

RESULTS

The median age was 72 year-old [interquartiles: 65-76]. The median MMSE score was 23 [interquartiles: 21-25]. 88% of the patients (n = 64) presented with a medial temporal amnesia profile. The dysexecutive amnesia and normal verbal episodic memory profiles represented respectively 5% (n = 4) and 7% (n = 5). There were no significant differences in term of age, gender, and MMSE score between the three profile groups.

CONCLUSION

In a population initially presenting with memory complaints and depicting a CSF AD signature, a high proportion of medial temporal amnesia is disclosed as expected, but also a proportion of dysexecutive amnesia and normal FCSRT.