VIVALDI-CT shaping care home COVID-19 testing policy: A pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of asymptomatic testing compared to standard care in care home staff.

Background: Non-pharmaceutical interventions were used widely in care homes for older people during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there have been few randomised trials to support policy decisions. We aimed to evaluate the effect of biweekly asymptomatic staff testing with support funding for sick pay and agency staffing on the clinical outcomes of residents.

Methods: We conducted a cluster randomised unblinded superiority trial, aiming to recruit up to 280 residential and/or nursing homes in England providing care to adults aged >65 years.

Understanding Interactions Between Life Satisfaction and Genetic Predisposition on Risk of Alzheimer's Disease up to 14 Years Later: Findings From the UK Biobank.

Objectives: Previous research investigating associations between life satisfaction and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been mixed. This association may differ depending on genetic risk for AD. The aim of this study was to test interactions between life satisfaction and genetic predisposition on the future incidence of AD diagnosis.

Wellbeing and memory function: testing bidirectional associations in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the bidirectional relationship between wellbeing and memory in a large, nationally representative sample of people aged 50+.

Method: Data were used from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a longitudinal cohort comprising 12,099 people aged 50+, excluding people with dementia at baseline. Repeated measures of wellbeing (CASP-19) and episodic memory (immediate and delayed recall of a word list) were available 9-times over a 16-year period.

Is joint hypermobility linked to self-reported non-recovery from COVID-19? Case-control evidence from the British COVID Symptom Study Biobank.

Objectives: This study sought to explore whether generalised joint hypermobility (GJH, a common marker of variant connective tissue) was a risk factor for self-reported non-recovery from COVID-19 infection.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: COVID Symptom Study Biobank (https://cssbiobank.

Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: Contrasting approaches to evaluation of factor structure.

Objectives: Cognitive theories and previous research on cognitive performance suggest a hierarchical pattern of interrelationships among cognitive tests, but the psychometric properties of the same tests may change when adapted for a different context or applied to a different population. We evaluated the factor structure of a cognitive battery of tests using an exploratory, data-driven approach and a confirmatory, theory-driven approach.

Design: We estimated exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Social relationship factors, depressive symptoms, and incident dementia: a prospective cohort study into their interrelatedness.

Background: Different aspects of social relationships (e.g., social network size or loneliness) have been associated with dementia risk, while their overlap and potentially underlying pathways remain largely unexplored.

VIVALDI ASCOT and Ethnography Study: protocol for a mixed-methods longitudinal study to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and other respiratory infection outbreaks on care home residents' quality of life and psychosocial well-being.

Introduction: Older adults in care homes experienced some of the highest rates of mortality from SARS-CoV-2 globally and were subjected to strict and lengthy non-pharmaceutical interventions, which severely impacted their daily lives. The VIVALDI ASCOT and Ethnography Study aims to assess the impact of respiratory outbreaks on care home residents' quality of life, psychological well-being, loneliness, functional ability and use of space. This study is linked to the VIVALDI-CT, a randomised controlled trial of staff's asymptomatic testing and sickness payment support in care homes (ISRCTN13296529).

Bidirectional Associations of Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Function Over Time.

Importance: Cognitive decline and depressive symptoms often co-occur among older adults, and they share several mechanisms. Despite the fact that cognitive dysfunction has been linked to increased depressive symptoms, the directionality of this association remains unclear.

Objective: To examine whether there is a bidirectional association between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in English adults aged 50 years or older throughout a 16-year follow-up period.

Systemic inflammation, lifestyle behaviours and dementia: A 10-year follow-up investigation.

Objectives: Lifestyle behaviours have been linked to dementia incidence, but their cumulative impact on dementia and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study investigated the association of co-occurring lifestyle behaviours with dementia incidence and the mediating role of systemic inflammation in this association.

Methods: The sample comprised 3131 participants (55.

Impact of sleep duration and sleep disturbances on the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease: A 10-year follow-up study.

The nature of the relationship between sleep problems and dementia remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between sleep measures and dementia in older adults (≥ 65) using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and further investigated the causal association in Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. In total of 7,223 individuals, 5.

Life-Course Socioeconomic Position and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Midlife: Evidence from the 1958 British Birth Cohort.

Background: Dementia has been the leading cause of death in the UK since 2015. Increasing evidence supports an association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and dementia onset in later life. However, limited studies have examined how life-course SEP influences the development of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an intermediate state potentially preceding dementia.

Shaping care home COVID-19 testing policy: a protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of asymptomatic testing compared with standard care in care home staff (VIVALDI-CT).

Introduction: Care home residents have experienced significant morbidity, mortality and disruption following outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2. Regular SARS-CoV-2 testing of care home staff was introduced to reduce transmission of infection, but it is unclear whether this remains beneficial. This trial aims to investigate whether use of regular asymptomatic staff testing, alongside funding to reimburse sick pay for those who test positive and meet costs of employing agency staff, is a feasible and effective strategy to reduce COVID-19 impact in care homes.

The Impact of Long-Term Conditions and Comorbidity Patterns on COVID-19 Infection and Hospitalisation: A Cohort Study.

Introduction: Older adults are more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections; however, little is known about which comorbidity patterns are related to a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. This study investigated the role of long-term conditions or comorbidity patterns on COVID-19 infection and related hospitalisations.

Methods: This study included 4,428 individuals from Waves 8 (2016-2017) and 9 (2018-2019) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) who also participated in the ELSA COVID-19 Substudy in 2020.

The impact of long-term conditions and comorbidity patterns on COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation: a cohort study.

Introduction: Older adults are usually more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections; however, little is known about which comorbidity patterns are related to a higher probability of COVID-19 infection. This study investigated the role of long-term conditions or comorbidity patterns on COVID-19 infection and related hospitalisations.

Methods: This study included 4,428 individuals from Waves 8 (2016-2017) and 9 (2018-2019) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), who also participated in the ELSA COVID-19 Substudy in 2020.

Socioeconomic and Contextual Differentials in Memory Decline: A Cross-Country Investigation Between England and China.

Objectives: Although cognitive functioning is strongly associated with biological changes in the brain during the aging process, very little is known about the role of sociocultural differentials between the western and eastern parts of the world. We examined the associations between individual socioeconomic markers (e.g.

Excess body weight and specific types of depressive symptoms: Is there a mediating role of systemic low-grade inflammation?

Objectives: Obesity is associated with an increased risk of depression. Systemic low-grade inflammation, a plausible consequence of obesity, has also been linked to depression. However, the potential mediating effects of systemic low-grade inflammation on the association between excess body weight and specific symptom domains of depression remain uncertain.

Pneumonia and subsequent risk of dementia: Evidence from the Japan Gerontological evaluation study.

Background: Recently, several studies reported that pneumonia might increase the risk of cognitive decline and dementia due to increased frailty.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the association between a history of pneumonia and subsequent dementia risk.

Methods: Participants were 9952 aged 65 years or older Japanese men and women from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study prospective cohort study, followed up from 2013 to 2019.

Moderating Role of Cognitive Reserve Markers Between Childhood Cognition and Cognitive Aging: Evidence From the 1946 British Birth Cohort.

Background And Objectives: As the population ages, differences in cognitive abilities become more evident. We investigated key genetic and life course influences on cognitive state at age 69 years, building on previous work using the longitudinal Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort).

Methods: Multivariable regressions investigated the association between 4 factors: (1) childhood cognition at age 8 years; (2) a Cognitive Reserve Index (CRI) composed of 3 markers: (i) educational attainment by age 26 years, (ii) engagement in leisure activities at age 43 years, and (iii) occupation up to age 53 years; (3) reading ability assessed by the National Adult Reading Test (NART) at age 53 years; and (4) genotype in relation to cognitive state measured at age 69 years with Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination, third edition (ACE-III).

Occasions for laughter and dementia risk: Findings from a six-year cohort study.

Aim: Currently, there is little evidence on the relationship between laughter and the risk of dementia, and since laughter is mainly a social behavior, we aimed to examine the association between various occasions for laughter and the risk of dementia in Japanese older adults.

Methods: We draw upon 6-year follow-up data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, including 12 165 independent older adults aged 65 years or over. Occasions for laughter were assessed using a questionnaire, while dementia was diagnosed using the standardized dementia scale of the long-term care insurance system in Japan.

The long-term effects of a polygenetic predisposition to general cognition on healthy cognitive ageing: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: As an accelerated cognitive decline frequently heralds onset of severe neuropathological disorders, understanding the source of individual differences in withstanding the onslaught of cognitive ageing may highlight how best cognitive abilities may be retained into advanced age.

Methods: Using a population representative sample of 5088 adults aged •50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we investigated relationships of polygenic predisposition to general cognition with a rate of change in cognition during a 10-year follow-up period. Polygenic predisposition was measured with polygenic scores for general cognition (GC-PGS).

Interplay between polygenic propensity for ageing-related traits and the consumption of fruits and vegetables on future dementia diagnosis.

Background: Understanding how polygenic scores for ageing-related traits interact with diet in determining a future dementia including Alzheimer's diagnosis (AD) would increase our understanding of mechanisms underlying dementia onset.

Methods: Using 6784 population representative adults aged ≥50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we employed accelerated failure time survival model to investigate interactions between polygenic scores for AD (AD-PGS), schizophrenia (SZ-PGS) and general cognition (GC-PGS) and the baseline daily fruit and vegetable intake in association with dementia diagnosis during a 10-year follow-up. The baseline sample was obtained from waves 3-4 (2006-2009); follow-up data came from wave 5 (2010-2011) to wave 8 (2016-2017).