Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society最新文献

Background: Numerous studies have investigated the potential effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on improving symptoms related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, these studies have produced inconsistent results, leading to a need for further investigation.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted, including articles published from the initial availability date to 5 April 2024. The extracted study data were analyzed using STATA 12.0 software. The standard mean difference (SMD) and a 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the effects of tDCS.

Results: A total of 18 studies assessing the effects of tDCS on AD were included in the study. The study revealed that tDCS has an immediate positive impact on general cognitive, executive, language, and visuospatial function. However, the study did not observe any other significant effect of tDCS treatment on improvements in brain function, including long-term effects on general cognitive, attention, language, and memory function, as well as immediate effects on attention and memory function.

Conclusions: In conclusion, the study suggests that tDCS may be a promising intervention for improving the cognitive function of patients with AD. However, given the complex and multifactorial nature of AD, further well-designed studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to clarify the effectiveness of tDCS and determine the optimal combination of tDCS parameters.

Background: Wandering behaviour affects a significant portion of dementia patients, ranging from 15% to 80%, presenting a serious safety concern and adding to caregivers' burden. Recent studies emphasise the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions over pharmacological ones due to their minimal side effects. Consequently, in current literature there has been a surge of interest in exploring non-pharmacological methods for managing wandering.

Purpose: This integrative literature review aims to deepen comprehension of wandering behaviour, presents recent studies on non-pharmacological approaches, and inspires further research in this field.

Methods: Electronic data collection spanned from 2019 to 2024, sourcing 20 relevant articles from PubMed and Scopus databases using search terms such as 'dementia', 'Alzheimer's disease', 'wandering', and 'management'. A thematic analysis methodology was employed to identify non-pharmacological treatment themes for managing wandering. This approach involves scrutinising and synthesising themes within the dataset. Qualitative data analysis focused on significant phrases and keywords, grouping them to derive relevant themes.

Results: Recent literature extensively explores non-pharmacological methods for managing wandering. These include understanding behaviours, identifying and targeting high-risk groups, facilitating safe wandering, addressing environmental factors, promoting exercise and activity, and offering caregiver support.

Conclusions: This study significantly advances understanding of wandering behaviour and highlights recent research on non-pharmacological interventions. The findings suggest the potential for providing safe and effective treatment to wandering dementia patients, thereby alleviating stress for both patients and caregivers.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) among older adults is a crucial aspect of geriatric care, particularly in the context of global demographic shifts toward ageing societies. Understanding the determinants of QOL in older adults is essential for developing effective interventions to promote well-being in this population.

Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted in Greece aimed to investigate the complex relationship between depression, frailty, nutritional status, and QOL on 90 older adults (aged ≤65). Assessment instruments including the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL)-BREF questionnaire, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were utilised to evaluate various dimensions of QOL, depressive symptoms, frailty, and nutritional status.

Results: The study revealed significant negative correlations between depression and frailty with all domains of QOL (P < 0.05), indicating that higher levels of depressive symptoms and frailty were associated with lower QOL across physical, psychological, social, and environmental dimensions. Conversely, positive correlations were found between nutritional status and all QOL domains (P < 0.05), suggesting that better nutritional status was linked to higher QOL. Multivariate logistic regression analysis further demonstrated associations between nutritional status and participant characteristics, with females being more likely to be malnourished (odds ratio (OR) = 6.56, P = 0.013), while better health status (OR = 0.34, P = 0.486) and marital status (OR = 0.02, P = 0.019) were protective against malnutrition.

Conclusion: These findings underscore the interconnectedness of depression, frailty, and nutritional status in shaping QOL among individuals. Holistic interventions targeting mental health, physical vulnerability, and nutritional well-being are essential for promoting overall well-being and functional outcomes in this population.

Background: The mediating role of hope in the effects of spiritual wellbeing on life satisfaction in elderly haematologic cancer patients in Turkey was investigated in the present study.

Methods: The study was conducted in a descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational design. The study was conducted with 150 patients aged 65 and older who were diagnosed with haematologic cancer and who were referred to a university hospital haematology clinic and outpatient clinic. Research data were collected with Descriptive Information Form, Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS), Spiritual Well-being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).

Results: FACIT-Sp-12 score was 37.25 ± 7.29; DHS score was 40.42 ± 8.29, SWLS score was 16.24 ± 8.79. FACIT-Sp-12 (β = 0.668) and DHS (β = 0.226) were found to affect SWLS positively. In terms of the effect of FACIT-Sp-12 on SWLS, DHS has a mediating role and makes the positive effect of FACIT-Sp-12 on SWLS stronger (β = 0.771).

Conclusions: Spiritual wellbeing levels of the participants in our study were found to be high, while their levels of satisfaction with life and hope were found to be moderate. It was also concluded that spiritual wellbeing had a direct effect on satisfaction with life and an indirect effect through the mediating role of hope.

Background: Falls are directly related to morbidity and mortality of older people. Multifactorial approaches that are individualised and based on fall risk factors are necessary. This study aims to verify the effects of a case management-based intervention on non-motor risk factors for falls in community-dwelling older people with a history of falls.

Methods: The intervention applied a multidimensional assessment of risk factors for falls, a discussion about the identified risk factors, the preparation of an individualised plan with the participant, and the application, monitoring and review of the plan.

Results: There was a significant interaction between groups and assessments only in the visuospatial domain (P = 0.031). After simple main effects analysis, differences between groups and assessments were not significant, although there was a tendency of worse visuospatial performance in the control group in the follow-up assessment (P = 0.099). There were no significant differences between groups or between assessments in other variables.

Conclusion: The intervention has the potential to maintain non-motor risk factors for falls in community-dwelling older people with a history of falls. However, more clinical trials are needed to prove its effects.

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic utility of psychological nursing interventions for prostatic hyperplasia clients while they are receiving therapy.

Methods: Clinical data of 110 patients with prostate group hyperplasia who underwent treatment in our hospital were collected and analysed retrospectively, and the selected period was from October 2021 to October 2023. The 110 cases of prostate group hyperplasia patients were divided into a research group and a control group according to the different methods of care, and each group had 55 cases each. The research group received psychological nursing intervention based on the conventional nursing care given to the control group. The total treatment compliance rate and contentment with nursing were contrasted between the research and control groups, and changes in the Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score, Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS) score, Health Survey Short Form score, and sleep problems were observed between the research group and the control group.

Results: The research group's overall compliance rate was 94.55% (52/53), a substantial increase over the control group's rate, 69.09% (38/55), P < 0.01. Following nursing, the research group's SAS and SDS scores were considerably more reduced than those of the control group, and both groups' scores were substantially lower than they were prior to nursing (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: This retrospective study found that psychological nursing intervention applied to patients with prostatic hyperplasia can effectively improve the patient's compliance with treatment, effectively reduce the occurrence of negative emotions, improve the patient's quality of life, and improve sleep problems. In addition, psychological nursing intervention can effectively alleviate the tension between nurses and patients, and is worthy of clinical application.

Background: Social participation is recommended for older adults to remain actively involved in daily life. Social participation is a broad concept, ranging from 'interacting with others without doing a specific activity with them' to 'actively contributing to society.' However, previous studies have not taken into account the components of social participation. Depressive symptoms are significant outcomes in older adults. Social participation mitigates these risks owing to its association with reduced mortality and enhanced quality of life. This study aimed to examine the association between the level of social participation and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: We included 17 040 individuals aged ≥65 years. Social participation was categorised into Level 3, interacting with others without doing a specific activity with them; Level 4, engaging in an activity with others; Level 5, helping others; and Level 6, contributing to society, based on a previous study by Levasseur et al. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the level of social participation and depressive symptoms.

Results: Overall, 15 069 older adults met the inclusion criteria. A higher level of social participation was associated with lower odds ratios (ORs) for depressive symptoms (Level 6 = OR: 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37-0.50; Level 5 = OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.41-0.60; and Level 4 = OR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.52-0.69). Subgroup analyses based on age and sex yielded similar results across all participants.

Conclusions: Among older adults in Japan, a higher level of social participation was associated with lower rates of depressive symptoms. The relationship between depressive symptoms and the levels of social participation may help develop measures to reduce or prevent depressive symptoms in older adults.