Can depression in psychogeriatric inpatients at one year follow-up be explained by locus of control and coping strategies?

Objectives: Treatment of depression (in late life) is good. The short-term, but not long-term prognosis after treatment of depression in late life is good. To identify modifiable factors, we wanted to examine whether coping in terms of locus of control and coping strategies in depressed patients were associated with the prognosis of depression at follow-up, adjusted for sociodemographic information and health variables.

Trends in potentially inappropriate medication prescribing to nursing home patients: comparison of three cross-sectional studies.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine trends in potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) prescribing in Norwegian nursing homes.

Methods: Patients aged ≥70 years were included from three cross-sectional studies conducted in 1997, 2005 and 2011. PIMs were analyzed according to the Norwegian General Practice-Nursing Home criteria (NORGEP-NH), use of single substances to avoid, combinations to avoid, and deprescribing items.

Caregiver profiles in dementia related to quality of life, depression and perseverance time in the European Actifcare study: the importance of social health.

Objectives: To identify caregiver profiles of persons with mild to moderate dementia and to investigate differences between identified caregiver profiles, using baseline data of the international prospective cohort study Actifcare.

Methods: A latent class analysis was used to discover different caregiver profiles based on disease related characteristics of 453 persons with dementia and their 453 informal caregivers. These profiles were compared with regard to quality of life (CarerQoL score), depressive symptoms (HADS-D score) and perseverance time.

The impact of the Dementia ABC educational programme on competence in person-centred dementia care and job satisfaction of care staff.

Aim And Objectives: The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of the Dementia ABC educational programme on the participants' competence in person-centred care and on their level of job satisfaction.

Background: The development of person-centred care for people with dementia is highly recommended, and staff training that enhances such an approach may positively influence job satisfaction and the possibility of recruiting and retaining competent care staff.

Design: The study is a longitudinal survey, following participants over a period of 24 months with a 6-month follow-up after completion of the programme.

The association between attending specialized day care centers and the quality of life of people with dementia.

Background: Day care that is designed for people with dementia aims to increase the users' quality of life (QoL). The objective of the study was to compare the QoL of people with dementia attending day care with those not attending day care.

Methods: The study is based on baseline data from a project using a quasi-experimental design, including a group of day care users (n = 183) and a comparison group not receiving day care (n = 78).

Symptoms of Anxiety in Older Adults with Depression, Dementia, or Psychosis: A Principal Component Analysis of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory.

Aims: The primary aim of this study was to examine anxiety symptoms as measured by the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in older patients with depression, dementia, or psychotic disorders. The secondary aim was to conduct a principal component analysis (PCA) of the GAI and to examine whether its subscales differ between the 3 disorders.

Methods: We included data from 428 patients who were admitted to a department of geriatric psychiatry and examined according to a standardized protocol.

Fully automated structural MRI of the brain in clinical dementia workup.

Background The dementia syndrome has been regarded a clinical diagnosis but the focus on supplemental biomarkers is increasing. An automatic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetry method, NeuroQuant® (NQ), has been developed for use in clinical settings. Purpose To evaluate the clinical usefulness of NQ in distinguishing Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) from non-dementia and non-AD dementia.

Determinants of quality of life in young onset dementia - results from a European multicenter assessment.

Background: Promoting adaptation, improving well-being and maintaining an optimal quality of life (QOL) is an important aspect in dementia care. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of QOL in young onset dementia, and to assess differences in QoL domains between people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Methods: In total 135 persons with AD and 58 persons with FTD were included from two prospective cohort studies.

Access to timely formal dementia care in Europe: protocol of the Actifcare (ACcess to Timely Formal Care) study.

Background: Previous findings indicate that people with dementia and their informal carers experience difficulties accessing and using formal care services due to a mismatch between needs and service use. This mismatch causes overall dissatisfaction and is a waste of the scarce financial care resources. This article presents the background and methods of the Actifcare (ACcess to Timely Formal Care) project.

TIME - Targeted interdisciplinary model for evaluation and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms: protocol for an effectiveness-implementation cluster randomized hybrid trial.

Background: Nearly all persons with dementia will experience neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) during the course of their disease. Clinicians and researchers emphasize the need for an evidence-informed standardized approach to managing NPS that integrates pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for real-world implementation. The Targeted Interdisciplinary Model for Evaluation and Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (TIME) represents such an approach and is a multicomponent intervention based on the theoretical framework of cognitive behavioural therapy.

Health-related quality of life in older depressed psychogeriatric patients: one year follow-up.

Background: Knowledge about long-term change in health related quality of life (HQoL) among older adults after hospitalization for treatment of depression has clinical relevance. The aim was firstly to describe the change of HQoL one year after admission for treatment of depression, secondly to explore if improved HQoL was associated with remission of depression at follow-up and lastly to study how HQoL in patients with remission from depression were compared to a reference group of older persons without depression.

Method: This study had the one year follow-up information of 108 older patients (≥60 years), all hospitalized for depression at baseline, and a reference sample of 106 community-living older adults (≥60 years) without depression.

Signs of Imminent Dying and Change in Symptom Intensity During Pharmacological Treatment in Dying Nursing Home Patients: A Prospective Trajectory Study.

Objectives: To investigate whether it is possible to determine signs of imminent dying and change in pain and symptom intensity during pharmacological treatment in nursing home patients, from day perceived as dying and to day of death.

Design: Prospective, longitudinal trajectory trial.

Setting: Forty-seven nursing homes within 35 municipalities of Norway.

Multi-psychotropic drug prescription and the association to neuropsychiatric symptoms in three Norwegian nursing home cohorts between 2004 and 2011.

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as affective symptoms, psychosis, agitation, and apathy are common among nursing home patients with and without dementia. Treatment with one or more psychotropic drug is often without explicit clinical indication, despite low treatment efficacy, and potential side effects. We aim to investigate the multi-psychotropic drug use to identify factors and patient characteristics associated with multi-use.

Antipsychotic Drug Use Is Not Associated With Long-Term Mortality Risk in Norwegian Nursing Home Patients.

Objectives: To assess the long-term mortality risk associated with antipsychotic drug (AP) use in nursing homes.

Design: A longitudinal study with 5 assessments over a 75-month follow-up period.

Setting: A representative sample of nursing home patients in 4 Norwegian counties.

Severity of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Nursing Home Residents.

We aimed at assessing time shift in the severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in nursing home residents between 2004/2005 and 2010/2011 and associations between NPS and socio-demographic variables, physical health status, dementia severity, and the use of psychotropic drugs. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home Version was used in 2004/2005 (n = 1,163) and 2010/2011 (n = 1,858). Linear mixed model analysis was applied.

Potentially inappropriate medications and drug-drug interactions in home-dwelling people with mild dementia.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to describe the use of psychotropic drugs among home-dwelling people with mild dementia, to identify potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) and drug-drug interactions (DDI), and to analyze potential variables associated with having PIM and DDI.

Methods: Patients (n = 251) with a first-time diagnosis of mild dementia (defined as a mini-mental state examination score >20) were included from outpatient clinics. Prevalence of psychotropic drug use, polypharmacy, and psychotropic polypharmacy were investigated.

Are coping strategies and locus of control orientation associated with health-related quality of life in older adults with and without depression?

The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between coping and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults (aged ≥60 years) with and without depression. This cross-sectional study included 144 depressed inpatients from seven psychogeriatric hospital units in Norway and 106 community-living older adults without depression. HRQoL was measured using Euro Qol Group's EQ-5D Index and visual analog scale (EQ-VAS).

Analgesic prescribing patterns in Norwegian nursing homes from 2000 to 2011: trend analyses of four data samples.

Background: the analgesic drug use has been reported to increase in general in nursing home patients. However, there is insufficient evidence in terms of what agents are used, variations of use over time and to whom these drugs are prescribed.

Objective: we investigated the prescribing patterns of scheduled analgesic drugs in Norwegian nursing home patients from 2000 to 2011, with the association to age, gender, cognitive function and type of nursing home unit.

Comparing comorbidity scales: Attending physician score versus the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics.

Objectives: Assessing comorbidity using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIRS-G) and its comprehensive manual is time consuming. We investigated if similar information could be obtained by a simpler assessment based on the original CIRS.

Materials And Methods: Data from a randomized chemotherapy trial (RCT) on advanced NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) were analyzed.

Erratum.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1159/000437382.].

Predictors for Nursing Home Admission and Death among Community-Dwelling People 70 Years and Older Who Receive Domiciliary Care.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze which variables predicted nursing home admission (NHA) and death.

Methods: 1,001 recipients of domiciliary care were assessed three times in a 3-year period. Through bivariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models, associations between a covariate and the outcomes were analyzed.

The Agreement between the MMSE and IQCODE Tests in a Community-Based Sample of Subjects Aged 70 Years or Older Receiving In-Home Nursing: An Explorative Study.

Aim: It was the aim of this study to compare the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) with the Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) and to explore the characteristics of subjects with possible dementia with only one of the two tools.

Methods: We used a random sample of patients aged 70+ receiving social service or in-home nursing. The patients were tested with the MMSE, and the next of kin was interviewed using the following: the IQCODE, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), personal ADL (PADL) and the General Medical Health Rating (GMHR).

COSMOS--improving the quality of life in nursing home patients: protocol for an effectiveness-implementation cluster randomized clinical hybrid trial.

Background: Nursing home patients have complex mental and physical health problems, disabilities and social needs, combined with widespread prescription of psychotropic drugs. Preservation of their quality of life is an important goal. This can only be achieved within nursing homes that offer competent clinical conditions of treatment and care.