Apathy in patients with mild cognitive impairment and the risk of developing dementia of Alzheimer's disease: a one-year follow-up study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relation between apathy and development of dementia in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-one French-speaking outpatients fulfilling the criteria of amnestic MCI were enrolled. Apathy was assessed with the Apathy Inventory (IA). Neuropsychiatric evaluation also included the Goldberg anxiety scale and the Montgomery and Asberg Depressive Rating Scale (MADRS). The main end point considered after a 1-year follow-up was the development of dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT). RESULTS: At baseline there were 86 (39.8%) subjects presenting at least one symptom of apathy among the 216 included in analysis. After a 1-year follow-up, 22 patients developed DAT. Of the patients with apathy at baseline 13 (15.1%) developed DAT in comparison with 9 (6.9%) of the non-apathetic patients. At the 1-year follow-up, patients developing DAT had a significantly higher frequency of apathetic symptoms (91.7%) than patients without DAT (26.9%). CONCLUSION: Taking into account that apathy is one of the most frequently observed neuropsychiatric symptoms in MCI and in DAT the present study suggests that patients with MCI and apathy should be more closely observed.     

Home visits for frail older people: a qualitative study on the needs and preferences of frail older people and their informal caregivers

Background

A number of studies have examined the effects of home visits and showed inconsistent results on physical functioning, institutionalisation, and mortality. Despite continuing interest from professionals in home visits for older people, reports on older people’s needs and preferences for such visits are scarce.

Aim

This qualitative study aims to explore the views and needs of community-dwelling frail older people concerning home visits.

Design and setting

A qualitative study including interviews with frail older persons and their informal caregivers living in the area of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Method

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with frail older people and informal caregivers. A grounded theory approach was used for data-analysis.

Results

Eleven frail older people and 11 informal caregivers were included. Most participants emphasised the importance of home visits for frail older people. They felt that it would give older people the personal attention they used to receive from GPs but miss nowadays. Most stated that this would give them more trust in GPs. Participants stated that trust is one of the most important factors in a good patient–professional relationship. Further, participants preferred home visits to focus on the psychosocial context of the patient. They stated that more knowledge of the psychosocial context and a good patient–professional relationship would enable the professional to provide better and more patient-centred care.

Conclusion

Patients’ expectations of home visits are quite different from the actual purpose of home visiting programmes; that is, care and wellbeing versus cure and prevention. This difference may partly explain why the effectiveness of home visits remains controversial. Future studies on home visits should involve patients in the development of home visiting programmes.     

口服右旋索他洛尔生存研究(SWORD)

标题　ａ）口服左旋－Ｓｏｔａｔｏｌ治疗心肌梗死后左室功能不全患者生存研究（ＳＷＯＲＤ）：试验依据、设计和方法　　　ｂ）右旋－Ｓｏｔａｔｏｌ对亚急性和陈旧性心肌梗死后左室功能不全患者病死率的影响研究作者　ＷａｌｄｏＡＬ,ＣａｍｍＡＪ,ｄｅｒｕｙｔｅｒＨ,等ａ）ＡｍＪＣａｒｄｉｏｌ,１９９５,７５：１０２３～１０２７ｂ）Ｌａｎｃｅｔ,１９９６,３４８：７～１２　　研究疾病：充血性心力衰竭。目的：右旋－Ｓｏｔａｔｏｌ为一种具有专一性钾通道阻滞作用的抗心律失常药物。本研究将对其降低心肌梗死后左室功能不全…     

经皮射频热切除术治疗肝脏恶性肿瘤

经皮射频热切除术(percutaneous radiofrequency thermalablation)是国外近年来开展的一项有效而快速损毁肝脏恶性肿瘤的新技术[1-4].其机制是通过经皮影象技术,以热传导的方式导致肿瘤组织发生凝固性坏死[4].1999年我院引进国内第一台自动控制射频治疗仪,并对75例患者成功地进行了治疗.现将该技术及临床运用概况做一介绍.