Risk Factors for Falls and Neurocognitive Disorders CLSA
Neurocognitive DisordersGeriatricsThe study evaluates the association between the neurocognitive decline and falls.
Risk Factors for Falls and Fall-related Injuries Associated With Mild Neurocognitive Disorders
Old AgeFall Injury1 moreThis study evaluates the risk for incident falls and fall-related injuries at the onset of neurocognitive disorders in older adults participating in the Canadian Longitudinal Study
Feasibility of an Online, Self-administered Cognitive Screening Tool in Older Patients Undergoing...
Delirium in Old AgeAlzheimer Disease2 moreDelirium is common in older adults after inpatient surgery and may be associated with cognitive decline. Advances in surgical and anesthetic techniques have led to increasing numbers of older adults undergoing surgery on an outpatient basis. However, few studies have investigated cognitive disorders of older adults before or after ambulatory surgery. Increased age and pre-existing cognitive impairment are strong risk factors for cognitive decline after surgery, yet older adults are not screened for cognitive impairment before surgery. Existing screening tools require specially trained staff for test administration and in-person testing. Virtual cognitive screening has not been evaluated in surgical patients. In this study, investigators will determine the feasibility of using Cogniciti's Brain Health Assessment (BHA) - a validated online cognitive screening tool that can be self-administered from a patient's home before surgery - to screen older adults before ambulatory surgery.
Feasibility of a Novel Exergame-Based Training Concept for Older Adults With Mild Neurocognitive...
Mild Neurocognitive DisorderThe primary objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility (i.e. recruitment, adherence, compliance, attrition), usability (i.e. system usability), and acceptance (i.e. enjoyment, training motivation and perceived usefulness) of a newly developed exergame-based intervention concept for older adults with mNCD. As a secondary objective, preliminary effects of the intervention on cognition, brain resting-state functional connectivity, gait, cardiac autonomic regulation, and psychosocial factors (i.e. quality of life, and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress) will be explored. This allows to synthesize data for a sample size calculation on basis of a formal power calculation for a future RCT. A two-arm, parallel-group, single-blinded (i.e. outcome evaluator of pre- and post-measurements blinded to group allocation) pilot randomized controlled study with an allocation ration of 2 : 1 (i.e. intervention : control) including 17 - 25 older adults with mNCD will be conducted between June and December 2021. The active control group will proceed with usual care as provided by the memory clinics where the patients are recruited. The intervention group will perform a twelve-week training intervention according to a newly developed exergame-based intervention concept in addition to usual care. Primary outcomes will be assessed throughout the training intervention period. The measurements of all secondary outcomes will be conducted at ETH Hönggerberg within two weeks prior to starting (PRE) and after completing (POST) the study intervention.
Ferumoxytol-enhanced Brain MRI in HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorders
HIV DementiaThe purpose of this study is to describe the radiologic findings on brain MRI after ferumoxytol administration in HIV-infected patients with cognitive impairment.
A Bridging Study on Efficacy and Safety of [18F]Florbetaben PET for Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease...
Alzheimer DiseaseDementia7 moreThis is a bridging study to visually and quantitatively assess PET images obtained after single application of 300 MBq [18F]florbetaben and PET scanning of patients with Alzheimer disease.
Ramelteon in the Prevention of Post-operative Delirium
DeliriumDelirium5 moreThis trial focuses on a Phase II randomized masked clinical trial testing the effectiveness and safety of peri-operative administration of ramelteon, a melatonin agonist in the prevention of postoperative delirium.
Cerebral Regional Oxygen Saturation and Markers of Brain Damage During Primary Hip Arthroplasty...
DeliriumDementia4 morePostoperative Cognitive Disorders (POCD) are common in hospitalized people > 60 year old, especially in orthopedic patients. Etiology of POCD is complex, and in some aspects still remains unclear. The role of thromboembolic events in etiology of POCD was discussed. The incidence of such events in patients who underwent big joints arthroplasty can be as high as 40 to 60%, although some cases are subclinical. Thromboembolic material can block a blood flow through a vessels in the brain. As a consequence cerebral neurons can be damaged or destroyed. After neuronal damage specific substances, such as S100B protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) are released to the blood. The serum concentrations of these biomarkers can be measured. Moreover, the block of blood flow will decrease regional cerebral saturation in affected parts of the brain. In this project the authors would like to analyze the correlation between the regional cerebral saturation and serum concentration of both S100B protein and GFAP in orthopedic patients scheduled to primary hip arthroplasty.
The Effects and Cost-Effectiveness of an Integrated Multidisciplinary Approach for Psychogeriatric...
DeliriumDementia3 moreThe purpose of this study is to determine the effects and cost-effectiveness of a Diagnostic Observation Center for PsychoGeriatric patients (DOC-PG). Our main hypothesis is that DOC-PG has added value compared with usual care regarding Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL).
Interaction of Cobalamin Status With Nitrous Oxide in Relation to Postoperative Cognitive Changes...
AvitaminosisDelirium3 moreLow cobalamin (vitamin B12) levels are frequent in the elderly. Most often they reflect a mild metabolic abnormality without clinical symptoms (subclinical cobalamin deficiency). It is unclear if these elderly people require medical intervention, unlike that small minority with clinical symptoms which can progress and create severe blood or nervous system problems. The study aims to determine if nitrous oxide (N2O), a common anesthetic agent, worsens cobalamin status in elderly patients with unrecognized subclinical cobalamin deficiency. The reason for concern is that N2O inactivates cobalamin and can aggravate the clinical picture of patients who already have clinical manifestations of cobalamin deficiency. The elderly are known to have an increased risk of developing mental changes after surgery and it may be that sometimes these result from aggravation of subclinical cobalamin deficiency. The study recruits people over the age of 60 years who are undergoing clinically indicated elective surgery requiring general anesthesia for more than 1 hour. Patients meeting exclusion and inclusion criteria are randomized to receive either a standard anesthetic regimen that includes N2O or a nearly identical one without N2O. Before surgery and 2 weeks and 4 weeks after surgery, each patient undergoes (1) a broad battery of tests of cognition and mood and (2) blood tests measuring cobalamin, folate and homocysteine-methionine metabolism to determine whether they have any subtle biochemical impairment of cobalamin status. DNA from blood cells is also tested for the presence of common mutations that affect key enzymes in those metabolic pathways. A brief testing for postoperative delirium is also done 2 hours after surgery. The patient subgroups' are analyzed for neuropsychologic changes over time, using the preoperative test as the baseline for all comparisons, and associations of those changes with metabolic, genetic, demographic and clinical data. The primary question is what effect routine N2O exposure has on the latter compared with non-N2O anesthesia in elderly people who either have or do not have subclinical cobalamin deficiency. It will help answer whether or not the combination can help explain the increased risk of cognitive problems after surgery in elderly patients, and by extension whether preoperative cobalamin testing and treatment may be indicated in the elderly. It will also test whether genetic predisposition affects the described problems.