0000000000702074
AUTHOR
A. Girardi
Nutritional predictors of cognitive impairment severity in demented elderly patients: The key role of BMI
Introduction: The body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to assess nutritional status and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) is a validated tool for assessing cognitive status in elderly people. Nutritional and cognitive aspects are closely related in dementia. Objectives: To establish whether BMI predicts cognitive decline in demented patients and whether an "alarm" BMI cut-off exists for declining MMSE scores. Subjects and methods: 82 elderly demented patients underwent clinical, bio-chemical and functional assessment. Design: Transversal study. Results: The mean BMI was 26.08±4.48 kg/m 2 and the mean MMSE 18.68±5.38. Patients with BMI>25 kg/m2 had significantly lower MMSE scores…
Visual and Hearing Impairment Are Associated With Delirium in Hospitalized Patients: Results of a Multisite Prevalence Study
Objective: Sensory deficits are important risk factors for delirium but have been investigated in single-center studies and single clinical settings. This multicenter study aims to evaluate the association between hearing and visual impairment or bi-sensory impairment (visual and hearing impairment) and delirium. Design: Cross-sectional study nested in the 2017 "Delirium Day" project. Setting and participants: Patients 65 years and older admitted to acute hospital medical wards, emergency departments, rehabilitation wards, nursing homes, and hospices in Italy. Methods: Delirium was assessed with the 4AT (a short tool for delirium assessment) and sensory deficits with a clinical evaluation. …
Nutritional and global indexes of progression in dementia: a 12-month prospective study.
Background: To assess the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the progression of dementia. Methods: Sixty elderly outpatients with untreated dementia followed for 12 months. All patients underwent clinical, cognitive, functional, and nutritional assessment at the baseline and after 12 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups by baseline BMI (< or ≥25 kg/m2). Results: Participants with a baseline BMI ≥25 kg/m2 had significantly higher Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores (21 ± 5.1 vs 15.9 ± 5.5; P < .001), while clinical dementia rating (CDR) and multidimensional prognostic index (MPI) scores were similar in the 2 groups. After 12 months, the MMSE score decreased significan…