Esperanza Navarro-Pardo

Análisis de las redes sociales en la vejez a través de la entrevista Manheim

Resumen es: Objetivo. Reconocer quienes son las figuras suministradoras de apoyo, psicologico e instrumental, en la vejez, asi como precisar si existen diferencias e...

Frailty and multimorbidity: Two related yet different concepts

The extension of life expectancy is a global phenomenon. The growth in the ageing population has created a new health scenario in which there is a higher prevalence of frailty and multimorbidity. The attention received by both conditions derives from their strong association with disability, hospitalization, and death. The aim of the present paper is to conceptualize and differentiate these terms and to discuss their interrelations. We conclude that, yet related, they represent two different clinical conditions. Frailty identifies the increased vulnerability to stressors due to a dynamic, non-linear, and multidimensional depletion of physiological reserve and redundancy, whereas multimorbidity refers to the coexistence of two or more clinically manifest chronic diseases.

Mild cognitive decline. A position statement of the Cognitive Decline Group of the European Innovation Partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing (EIPAHA)

INTRODUCTION Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a term used to describe a level of decline in cognition which is seen as an intermediate stage between normal ageing and dementia, and which many consider to be a prodromal stage of neurodegeneration that may become dementia. That is, it is perceived as a high risk level of cognitive change. The increasing burden of dementia in our society, but also our increasing understanding of its risk factors and potential interventions, require diligent management of MCI in order to find strategies that produce effective prevention of dementia. AIM To update knowledge regarding mild cognitive impairment, and to bring together and appraise evidence about the main features of clinical interest: definitions, prevalence and stability, risk factors, screening, and management and intervention. METHODS Literature review and consensus of expert opinion. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION MCI describes a level of impairment in which deteriorating cognitive functions still allow for reasonable independent living, including some compensatory strategies. While there is evidence for some early risk factors, there is still a need to more precisely delineate and distinguish early manifestations of frank dementia from cognitive impairment that is less likely to progress to dementia, and furthermore to develop improved prospective evidence for positive response to intervention. An important limitation derives from the scarcity of studies that take MCI as an endpoint. Strategies for effective management suffer from the same limitation, since most studies have focused on dementia. Behavioural changes may represent the most cost-effective approach.

Differences Between Young and Old University Students on a Lexical Decision Task: Evidence Through an Ex-Gaussian Approach

ABSTRACT This work compared two common variants of a lexical decision task (LDT) through two different analysis procedures: first, the classical ANOVA method, and second, by fitting the data to an ex-Gaussian distribution function. Two groups of participants (old and young university students) had to perform, blocks of go/no-go and yes/no tasks. Reaction times and error rates were much lower in the go/no-go task than in the yes/no task. Changes in the ex-Gaussian parameter related to attention were found with word frequency but not with the type of LDT tasks. These findings suggest that word frequency shows an attentional cost that is independent of age.

Phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks: normative data for elderly Brazilians

Este estudo buscou investigar a influencia de caracteristicas sociodemograficas no desempenho de idosos em duas tarefas de fluencia verbal, alem de fornecer dados normativos de referencia nessas tarefas, conforme niveis de educacao, para a populacao brasileira de idosos saudaveis​​. A amostra inicial incluiu 521 idosos com idade a partir 60 anos, participantes do Programa Estrategia Saude na Familia. Foram excluidos os participantes que tinham pontuacoes sugestivas de declinio cognitivo no Mini Exame do Estado Mental, de sintomas depressivos na Escala de Depressao Geriatrica e com autorrelato de doencas neurologicas ou de disturbios psiquiatricos. A amostra final foi composta por 218 participantes que responderam a tarefa de fluencia verbal fonemica (letras F, A e S) e 265 que responderam a tarefa semântica (animais). O desempenho em ambas as tarefas foi associado a idade e aos anos de ensino formal, mas nao ao sexo. Ainda, a variavel escolaridade mostrou ter um impacto maior no desempenho de fluencia verbal do que a idade em ambas as modalidades de evocacao. Os resultados desse estudo sugerem a importância de oferecer dados normativos de idosos brasileiros, adequados a idade e a escolaridade, em tarefas de fluencia verbal.

The effects of age and emotional valence on recognition memory: an ex-Gaussian components analysis.

The aim of this work was to study the effects of valence and age on visual image recognition memory. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) battery was used, and response time data were analyzed using analysis of variance, as well as an ex-Gaussian fit method. Older participants were slower and more variable in their reaction times. Response times were longer for negative valence pictures, however this was statistically significant only for young participants. This suggests that negative emotional valence has a strong effect on recognition memory in young but not in old participants. The τ parameter, often related to attention in the literature, was smaller for young than old participants in an ex-Gaussian fit. Differences on the τ parameter might suggest poorer attentional performance in old participants.

Serious Games for Elderly Continuous Monitoring

Information technology (IT) and serious games allow older population to remain independent for longer. Hence, when designing technology for this population, developmental changes, such as attention and/or perception, should be considered. For instance, a crucial developmental change has been related to cognitive speed in terms of reaction time (RT). However, this variable presents a skewed distribution that difficult data analysis. An alternative strategy is to characterize the data to an ex-Gaussian function. Furthermore, this procedure provides different parameters that have been related to underlying cognitive processes in the literature. Another issue to be considered is the optimal data recording, storing and processing. For that purpose mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) are a good option for targeting serious games where valuable information can be stored (time spent in the application, reaction time, frequency of use, and a long etcetera). The data stored inside the smartphones and tablets can be sent to a central computer (cloud storage) in order to store the data collected to not only fill the distribution of reaction times to mathematical functions, but also to estimate parameters which may reflect cognitive processes underlying language, aging, and decisional process.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support in a Sample of Early Retirees Enrolled in University Programs

ABSTRACT Objective: The aims of this study were twofold—first, to use confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to help assess which of the previously identified factor structures (identified through exploratory factor analysis) best fits a Spanish-language version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and second, to validate the MSPSS (and its subscales) for use among early retirees. Methods: The psychometric properties of the MPSS were analyzed in a sample of 991 Spanish early retirees enrolled in university programs. Participants had an average age of 62.7 years (SD = 5.89). An exploratory factor analysis and second-order confirmatory factor analysis were developed to identify the factorial solution and the best model fit. Results: The three factors identified were MSPSS significant others, MSPSS friends, and MSPSS family. Regarding reliability and validity, internal consistency indices were above .92 and the correlation between perceived social support subscales and measures of satisfaction with life in retirement were significantly positive. Conclusion: The Spanish language version of the MSPSS demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties in relation to internal structure and reliability, and all but one of the goodness-of-fit indices emerging from the CFA also supported this factor structure. The practical implications of the scale in different populations and the problems in relation to the three-factor solution and the index values obtained are discussed.

Identification of Subgroups of Women with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with Central Sensitization

OBJECTIVE Identification of subjects with different sensitization mechanisms can help to identify better therapeutic strategies for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The aim of the current study was to identify subgroups of women with CTS with different levels of sensitization. METHODS A total of 223 women with CTS were recruited. Self-reported variables included pain intensity, function, disability, and depression. Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) were assessed bilaterally over median, ulnar, and radial nerves, C5-C6 joint, carpal tunnel, and tibialis anterior to assess widespread pressure pain hyperalgesia. Heat (HPT) and cold (CPT) pain thresholds were also bilaterally assessed over the carpal tunnel and the thenar eminence to determine thermal pain hyperalgesia. Pinch grip force between the thumb and the remaining fingers was calculated to determine motor assessment. Subgroups were determined according to the status on a previous clinical prediction rule: PPT over the affected C5-C6 joint < 137 kPa, HPT on affected carpal tunnel <39.6ºC, and general health >66 points. RESULTS The ANOVA showed that women within group 1 (positive rule, n = 60) exhibited bilateral widespread pressure hyperalgesia (P < 0.001) and bilateral thermal thresholds (P < 0.001) than those within group 2 (negative rule, n = 162). Women in group 1 also exhibited higher depression than those in group 2 (P = 0.023). No differences in self-reported variables were observed. CONCLUSION This study showed that a clinical prediction rule originally developed for identifying women with CTS who are likely to respond favorably to manual physical therapy was able to identify women exhibiting higher widespread pressure hyper-sensitivity and thermal hyperalgesia. This subgroup of women with CTS exhibiting higher sensitization may need specific therapeutic programs.

Age slowing down in detection and visual discrimination under varying presentation times

The reaction time has been described as a measure of perception, decision making, and other cognitive processes. The aim of this work is to examine age-related changes in executive functions in terms of demand load under varying presentation times. Two tasks were employed where a signal detection and a discrimination task were performed by young and older university students. Furthermore, a characterization of the response time distribution by an ex-Gaussian fit was carried out. The results indicated that the older participants were slower than the younger ones in signal detection and discrimination. Moreover, the differences between both processes for the older participants were higher, and they also showed a higher distribution average except for the lower and higher presentation time. The results suggest a general slowdown in both tasks for age under different presentation times, except for the cases where presentation times were lower and higher. Moreover, if these parameters are understood to be a reflection of executive functions, these findings are consistent with the common view that age-related cognitive deficits show a decline in this function.