Sorina Maria Aurelian

Cost of dementia in Romania: a cross-sectional Cost-of-Illness study undertaken in Bucharest

Objective: The main aim of the research was to investigate the costs of dementia in Romania based on the estimated average cost of each person with dementia in Bucharest. Method: This was a cross-sectional, non-population based study, with a mix of “bottom-up” and “top-down” data collection methods, which adopted the Cost-of-Illness approach from a broad societal perspective. The study involved 31 carers of patients with dementia in two Bucharest clinics in 2013 and 2014: the PROMEMORIA Private Clinic and the “Sf. Luca” chronic disease hospital. Face-to-face individual interviews were conducted using a modified version of the Resource Utilisation in Dementia (RUD) questionnaire. The average direct and indirect costs of dementia per person in the study were estimated for the year 2013 and are presented for the three levels of disease severity – mild, moderate and severe. Results: The mean carer age was 59.3 (SD = 13.3), with 77.4% of the participants being females. The average cost (direct and indirect) of dementia per person in the study ranged from 53,787 RON to 67,554 RON (depending on the hourly wage used for valuation of the caregivers’ time). Converted to the international dollar currency, using the purchasing power parity (PPP) of the US dollar in Romania in 2013, the average cost of dementia in the study accounted for between I

The impact of arterial stiffness on cognitive status in elderly diabetic patients

32,301 and I

Findings regarding relationships between socio-demographic, psychological and co-morbidity factors and the functional status, in geriatric inpatients

40,583. The estimated total annual cost of dementia in Romania in 2013 was between I

Medical and legal aspects of elderly patients with dementia

9 bln and I

The prevalence of disability at the elderly with peripheral obliterative arteriopathy

11 bln.

Effects of lipid lowering therapy with statins on cognitive functions in patients diagnosed with dementia undergoing antidementive therapy

Abstract With age, arteries become more rigid and pulse waves propagate faster. The pathogenic mechanisms that causes vascular stiffness in type 2 diabetes are complex but incompletely understood. An important element in the development of this phenomenon appears to be insulin resistance. One of the first line health problems that persist in the present is the failure to detect cardiovascular diseases in the preclinical stage which is important since more frequent cardiac events (myocardial infarction, sudden death) occur in people without obvious cardiovascular pathology in the medical history. One of the degenerative diseases with the greatest impact on the autonomy is dementia of elderly people. Recent studies have shown the association and even the possible involvement of cardiovascular risk factors and arterial stiffness in the pathogenesis of dementia and cognitive impairment. Although pulse wave velocity in the aorta is related to subclinical coronary atherosclerosis (being an important biomarker of cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic individuals), arterial stiffness is also a predictor of cognitive performance, cognitive decline or dementia.

Histopathological and ultrastructural features of renal artery wall in elderly with chronic kidney disease

Objective To assess the impact of socio-demographic and co-morbidity factors, and quantified depressive symptoms on disability in inpatients. Method Observational cross-sectional study including a number of 80 elderly (16 males, 64 females; mean age 72.48 years; standard deviation 9.95 years) admitted in the Geriatrics Division between May-July, 2012. We used the: Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and an array of socio-demographic and poli-pathology parameters, respectively. Statistical analysis included Somers’D for ordinal variables, linear bivariate correlations, general linear model analysis, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis, tests. Results FIM scores were negatively correlated with age (R=-0.301; 95%c.i.-0.439--0.163 p=0.007); GDS score had a negative impact on FIM (R=-0.322; 95%c.i.-0.324-0.052 p=0.004). A general linear model, including other variables (education, living conditions, provenance, gender, matrimonial state) as factors, found living conditions (p=0.027) and the combination of matrimonial state and gender (p=0.004) to significantly influencing the FIM score. ANOVA showed significant differences in FIM scores stratified by the number of chronic diseases (p=0.035). Discussion and conclusions Our study objectifies the negative impact of depression on functional status; interestingly, education had no influence on FIM scores; living conditions and combination of matrimonial state and gender had an important related impact: patients with living spouses showed significant better functional scores than divorced/ widowers; the number of chronic diseases also affected FIM scores: lower in patients with significant poli-pathology. These findings must be considered when designing geriatric rehabilitation programs within home skilled cares.