Background
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are at high risk for dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, many measures regularly used for the detection of AD in the general ...population are not suitable for individuals with DS. Some measures, including the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB), Brief Praxis Test (BPT), and Dementia Questionnaire for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (DMR), have been used in clinical trials and other research with this population. Validity research is limited, however, particularly regarding identification of predementia symptoms in the DS population. The current project presents baseline cross‐sectional SIB, BPT, and DMR performance in order to characterize their ability to discriminate normal cognition, possible AD, and probable AD in DS.
Method
Baseline SIB, BPT, and DMR performances from 117 individuals were analyzed as part of a large longitudinal cohort of aging individuals with DS. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated to investigate accuracy in differentiating levels of dementia status.
Result
In comparing no/possible AD vs. probable AD, the SIB and BPT exhibited fair discrimination ability (AUC = .78 and .79, respectively). In comparing no/possible AD vs. probable AD, the DMR exhibited good discrimination ability (AUC = .89), with qualitatively similar performance of the DMR‐Cognitive and DMR‐Social subscales (AUC = .89 and .83, respectively). In comparing no AD vs. possible AD, the SIB and BPT failed to differentiate these groups (AUC = .53 and .55, respectively), whereas the DMR exhibited good differentiation (AUC = .80).
Conclusion
Results suggest that the SIB, BPT, and DMR are able to discriminate between levels of dementia status in individuals with DS, supporting their continued use in the clinical assessment of dementia in DS. Specifically, the DMR, based on informant ratings of social and cognitive behaviors of daily living, outperformed the SIB and BPT, tests of cognitive performance, in discriminating no/possible AD vs. probable AD as well as no AD vs. possible AD. Such findings suggest that the DMR is better equipped to identify symptoms of overt dementia as well as predementia in this population. Findings reinforce the importance of including informant behavior ratings in assessment of this population.
Our analyses aimed to assess health status and critical needs of caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD) during the COVID-19 pandemic by gender. Between March 2021 and August 2021, respondents (n = ...267) were recruited from an Alzheimer's disease (AD) listserv at an US academic center to complete a questionnaire to capture sociodemographic data, caregiving characteristics, health status, status of COVID-19 testing, and COVID-19 preventative practices during the pandemic. Women caregivers reported needing assistance with caregiving responsibilities, whereas men caregivers needed assistance with health and social resources. More men caregivers also reported psychological distress compared to women caregivers. Our findings indicated significant differences in the resources needed and psychological distress of women and men who cared for PWD during the COVID-19 pandemic. The development of recommendations and resources with both men and women caregivers in mind may be beneficial to support informal caregivers during emergency situations.
Background
Mistrust of the government and medical establishments are prominent reasons for vaccine hesitancy among African Americans (AAs). As COVID-19 research evolves in real time with some ...uncertainties remaining, AA communities may be less trusting of public health agencies. The purpose of these analyses was to assess the association between trust in public health agencies that recommend the COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 vaccination status among AAs in North Carolina.
Methods
A 75-item cross-sectional survey, the Triad Pastors Network COVID-19 and COVID-19 Vaccination survey, was developed and administered to African Americans in North Carolina. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between levels of trust in public health agencies who recommend the COVID-19 vaccine and COVID-19 vaccination status among AAs.
Results
Of the 1157 AAs included in these analyses, approximately 14% of AAs had not received the COVID-19 vaccine. These findings indicated that lower levels of trust in public health agencies significantly decreased the odds of getting the COVID-19 vaccination compared to those with higher levels of trust among AAs. The most trusted source for information on COVID-19 included federal agencies among all respondents. Among the vaccinated, primary care physicians were another trusted source of information. Pastors were another trusted source for those willing to be vaccinated.
Conclusions
Despite the majority of the respondents in this sample receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, subgroups of AAs remain unvaccinated. Federal agencies have a high level of trust among AA adults; however, innovative approaches are needed to reach AAs who remain unvaccinated.
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