scholarly journals Incorporating a Usual Care Comparator into a Study of Meditation and Music Listening for Older Adults with Subjective Cognitive Decline: A Randomized Feasibility Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-206
Author(s):  
Kim E. Innes ◽  
Caitlin Montgomery ◽  
Terry Kit Selfe ◽  
Sijin Wen ◽  
Dharma Singh Khalsa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Active Treatment ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Care Group ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Treatment Expectancies

Background: Recent studies suggest meditation and music listening (ML) may improve cognitive and psychosocial outcomes in adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). However, lack of a usual care group has limited conclusions. Objective: To assess the: 1) feasibility of incorporating an enhanced usual care (EUC) comparator in a trial of Kirtan Kriya meditation (KK) and ML for adults experiencing SCD; and 2) preliminary effects of active treatment (KK/ML) versus an EUC program. Methods: Forty participants with SCD were randomized 1:1:2 to a 12-week KK, ML, or EUC program. KK and ML participants were asked to practice 12 minutes/day; EUC participants were given a comprehensive educational packet regarding healthy aging and strategies for improving/maintaining brain health and asked to record any activities or strategies used. Feasibility was assessed using measures of retention, adherence, treatment expectancies, and participant satisfaction, as well as information from exit questionnaires and daily practice/activity logs. Cognitive functioning, stress, mood, sleep-quality, and health-related quality of life (QOL) were measured pre- and post-intervention using well-validated instruments. Results: Thirty-two participants (80%) completed the 3-month study, with retention highest in the EUC group (p < 0.05). Active treatment participants averaged 6.0±0.4 practice sessions/week, and EUC participants, 7.5±0.6 brain health activities/week. Treatment expectancies were similar across groups. EUC participants indicated high satisfaction with the program and study. Despite limited study power, the active treatment group showed significantly greater gains in subjective memory functioning (ps≤0.025) and nonsignificant improvements in cognitive performance (TMT-B), perceived stress, QOL, and mood (ps≤0.08) compared to the EUC group. Conclusion: Findings of this pilot feasibility trial suggest incorporation of an EUC program is feasible, and that participation in a simple 12-week relaxation program may be helpful for adults with SCD versus engagement in an EUC program.

“Music First”

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dane L. Shiltz ◽  
Tara T. Lineweaver ◽  
Tim Brimmer ◽  
Alex C. Cairns ◽  
Danielle S. Halcomb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Usual Care ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Care Group ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Antipsychotic Medications ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Extended Care ◽  
Individualized Music

Abstract. Existing research has primarily evaluated music therapy (MT) as a means of reducing the negative affect, behavioral, and/or cognitive symptoms of dementia. Music listening (ML), on the other hand, offers a less-explored, potentially equivalent alternative to MT and may further reduce exposure to potentially harmful psychotropic medications traditionally used to manage negative behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). This 5-month prospective, naturalistic, interprofessional, single-center extended care facility study compared usual care (45 residents) and usual care combined with at least thrice weekly personalized ML sessions (47 residents) to determine the influence of ML. Agitation decreased for all participants (p < .001), and the ML residents receiving antipsychotic medications at baseline experienced agitation levels similar to both the usual care group and the ML patients who were not prescribed antipsychotics (p < .05 for medication × ML interaction). No significant changes in psychotropic medication exposure occurred. This experimental study supports ML as an adjunct to pharmacological approaches to treating agitation in older adults with dementia living in long-term care facilities. It also highlights the need for additional research focused on how individualized music programs affect doses and frequencies of antipsychotic medications and their associated risk of death and cerebrovascular events in this population.

scholarly journals A Proactive Telephone-Delivered Risk Communication Intervention for Smokers Participating in Lung Cancer Screening: A Pilot Feasibility Trial

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven B. Zeliadt ◽  
Preston A. Greene ◽  
Paul Krebs ◽  
Deborah E. Klein ◽  
Laura C. Feemster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Cancer Screening ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Usual Care Group ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Lung Cancer Screening ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Care Group ◽  
Telephone Counselling ◽  
Tobacco Treatment

Introduction: Many barriers exist to integrating smoking cessation into delivery of lung cancer screening including limited provider time and patient misconceptions.Aims: To demonstrate that proactive outreach from a telephone counsellor outside of the patient's usual care team is feasible and acceptable to patients.Methods: Smokers undergoing lung cancer screening were approached for a telephone counselling study. Patients agreeing to participate in the intervention (n = 27) received two telephone counselling sessions. A 30-day follow-up evaluation was conducted, which also included screening participants receiving usual care (n = 56).Results/Findings: Most (89%) intervention participants reported being satisfied with the proactive calls, and 81% reported the sessions were helpful. Use of behavioural cessation support programs in the intervention group was four times higher (44%) compared to the usual care group (11%); Relative Risk (RR) = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.7 to 9.9), and seven-day abstinence in the intervention group was double (19%) compared to the usual care group (7%); RR = 2.6; 95% CI: 0.8 to 8.9).Conclusions: This practical telephone-based approach, which included risk messages clarifying continued risks of smoking in the context of screening results, suggests such messaging can boost utilisation of evidence-based tobacco treatment, self-efficacy, and potentially increase the likelihood of successful quitting.

scholarly journals Selecting the most important self-assessed features for predicting conversion to mild cognitive impairment with random forest and permutation-based methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Gómez-Ramírez ◽  
Marina Ávila-Villanueva ◽  
Miguel Ángel Fernández-Blázquez
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Random Forest ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Comorbid Condition

AbstractAlzheimer’s Disease is a complex, multifactorial, and comorbid condition. The asymptomatic behavior in the early stages makes the identification of the disease onset particularly challenging. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediary stage between the expected decline of normal aging and the pathological decline associated with dementia. The identification of risk factors for MCI is thus sorely needed. Self-reported personal information such as age, education, income level, sleep, diet, physical exercise, etc. is called to play a key role not only in the early identification of MCI but also in the design of personalized interventions and the promotion of patients empowerment. In this study, we leverage a large longitudinal study on healthy aging in Spain, to identify the most important self-reported features for future conversion to MCI. Using machine learning (random forest) and permutation-based methods we select the set of most important self-reported variables for MCI conversion which includes among others, subjective cognitive decline, educational level, working experience, social life, and diet. Subjective cognitive decline stands as the most important feature for future conversion to MCI across different feature selection techniques.

scholarly journals Acceptability and Feasibility of an Isometric Resistance Exercise Program for Abdominal Cancer Surgery: An Embedded Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 107327482095085
Author(s):  
Ferhana Hashem ◽  
David Stephensen ◽  
Amanda Bates ◽  
Tracy Pellatt-Higgins ◽  
Ralph (Nobby) Peter Hobbs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Resistance Exercise ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Exercise Program ◽  
Cancer Surgery ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Care Group ◽  
Exercise Interventions

Although it is recognized in the early stages of cancer recovery that changes in lifestyle including increases in physical activity improves physical function, there are no clear findings whether low versus moderate intensity activity or home or gym exercise offer optimal benefit. Isometric-resistance exercises can be carried out with very little equipment and space and can be performed while patients are bed-bound in hospital or at home. This embedded qualitative study, based in an English hospital trust providing specialist cancer care, was undertaken as a component of a feasibility trial to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of an isometric-resistance exercise program and explore the suitability of functional assessments by drawing from the experiences of abdominal cancer patients following surgery. Telephone interviews were undertaken with 7 participants in the intervention group, and 8 interviews with the usual care group (n = 15). The gender composition consisted of 11 females and 4 males. Participants’ ages ranged from 27 to 84 (M = 60.07, SD = 15.40). Interviews were conducted between August 2017 and May 2018, with audio files digitally recorded and data coded using thematic framework analysis. Our results show that blinding to intervention or usual care was a challenge, participants felt the intervention was safe and suitable aided by the assistance of a research nurse, yet, found the self-completion questionnaire tools hard to complete. Our study provides an insight of trial processes, participants’ adherence and completion of exercise interventions, and informs the design and conduct of larger RCTs based on the experiences of abdominal cancer surgery patients.

[P3-566]: IMPROVING BRAIN HEALTH THROUGH AN ONLINE LIFESTYLE PROGRAM: PREFERENCES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH SUBJECTIVE COGNITIVE DECLINE

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (7S_Part_24) ◽  
pp. P1195-P1196
Author(s):  
Linda M.P. Wesselman ◽  
Ann-Katrin Schild ◽  
Nina Coll-Padros ◽  
Wieke van der Borg ◽  
Rosalinde E.R. Slot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Lifestyle Program ◽  
Online Lifestyle

IMPROVING BRAIN HEALTH THROUGH AN ONLINE LIFESTYLE PROGRAM: PREFERENCES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH SUBJECTIVE COGNITIVE DECLINE

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. P166-P167
Author(s):  
Linda M.P. Wesselman ◽  
Ann-Katrin Schild ◽  
Nina Coll-Padros ◽  
Wieke van der Borg ◽  
Rosalinde E.R. Slot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Lifestyle Program ◽  
Online Lifestyle

scholarly journals Selecting the most important self-assessed features for predicting conversion to Mild Cognitive Impairment with Random Forest and Permutation-based methods

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Gómez-Ramírez ◽  
Marina Ávila-Villanueva ◽  
Miguel Ángel Fernández-Blázquez
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Random Forest ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Comorbid Condition

ABSTRACTAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a complex, multifactorial and comorbid condition. The asymptomatic behavior in the early stages makes the identification of the disease onset particularly challenging. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediary stage between the expected decline of normal aging and the pathological decline associated with dementia. The identification of risk factors for MCI is thus sorely needed. Self-reported personal information such as age, education, income level, sleep, diet, physical exercise, etc. are called to play a key role not only in the early identification of MCI but also in the design of personalized interventions and the promotion of patients empowerment. In this study we leverage on The Vallecas Project, a large longitudinal study on healthy aging in Spain, to identify the most important self-reported features for future conversion to MCI. Using machine learning (random forest) and permutation-based methods we select the set of most important self-reported variables for MCI conversion which includes among others, subjective cognitive decline, educational level, working experience, social life, and diet. Subjective cognitive decline stands as the most important feature for future conversion to MCI across different feature selection techniques.

Identification of Earlier Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Multimodal Neuroimaging Study of Individuals with Subjective Cognitive Decline

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 1067-1076
Author(s):  
Ashleigh F. Parker ◽  
Colette M. Smart ◽  
Vanessa Scarapicchia ◽  
Jodie R. Gawryluk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Functional Mri ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Increased Risk

Background: Individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are thought to be the earliest along the cognitive continuum between healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Objective: The current study used a multi-modal neuroimaging approach to examine differences in brain structure and function between individuals with SCD and healthy controls (HC). Methods: 3T high-resolution anatomical images and resting-state functional MRI scans were retrieved for 23 individuals with SCD and 23 HC from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Results: The SCD and HC groups were not significantly different in age or education level. Voxel-based morphometry results did not show significant differences in grey matter volume between the groups. Functional MRI results revealed significantly greater functional connectivity in the default mode network in regions including the bilateral precuneus cortex, bilateral thalamus, and right hippocampal regions in individuals with SCD relative to controls. Conversely, those with SCD showed decreased functional connectivity in the bilateral frontal pole, caudate, angular gyrus, and lingual gyrus, compared to HC. Conclusion: Findings revealed differences in brain function but not structure between individuals with SCD and HC. Overall, this study represents a crucial step in characterizing individuals with SCD, a group recognized to be at increased risk for AD. It is imperative to identify biomarkers of AD prior to significant decline on clinical assessment, so that disease-delaying interventions may be delivered at the earliest possible time point.

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