Caregiving concerns and clinical characteristics across neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disorders in the Ontario neurodegenerative disease research initiative

Mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with neurodegenerative diseases and perceived family caregiver burden in Lima, Peru

BACKGROUND

Neurodegenerative diseases lead to difficulties with functional activities. In Peru, most caregivers are family members. Little is known about the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on caregivers in Peru.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional, prospective study of family caregivers of dependent patients with dementia or Parkinson's Disease in Lima, Peru. A caregiver burden and mental health questionnaire was administered to the caregiver.

RESULTS

We enrolled 48 caregivers (65% females, mean ± SD age 49.0 ± 12.3 years); 70% of patients had dementia. Nearly 40% of caregivers reported having full-time jobs, and 82% felt overwhelmed with almost 75% dedicating more time to caregiving during the pandemic. Caregivers perceived patients felt lonelier (52%), had an increase in hallucinations (50%), or forgetfulness (71%) compared to pre-pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights that perceived caregiver burden and patient behavioral symptoms may have been exacerbated during the pandemic. In countries such as Peru, more caregiving resources and interventions are needed.

Qualitative Analysis of Attitudes, Knowledge, and Interest in Research of People with Parkinson's Disease and Their Care Partners Receiving Accessible Research Education

Background

People with Parkinson's disease (PWP) and their care partners (CP) are underrepresented in research.

Methods

As an eight-week research advocacy training program, TeleDREAMS was designed to increase understanding of, and participation in, clinical research by older adults through topics on the research process. Qualitative analysis was conducted to explore themes from 365 thirty-minute semistructured phone interviews with 32 PWP and 17 CP TeleDREAMS participants. Interviews gauged progress, motivation, and information retention after each weekly module.

Results

Eight salient themes were identified from the interviews, including Understanding the Importance of Advocacy and Becoming Cognizant of Past Advocacy Experiences.

Conclusions

While some findings aligned with weekly module topics, others, such as stated learning preferences and knowledge acquisition of older adults in an educational program, were unexpected. TeleDREAMS may increase interest in community engagement, research participation, and advocacy roles in marginalized and underrepresented participants.

The long-term trend of Parkinson’s disease incidence and mortality in China and a Bayesian projection from 2020 to 2030

Background: Parkinson’s disease is a disabling degenerative disease of the central nervous system that occurs mainly in elderly people. The changes in the incidence and mortality of Parkinson’s disease at the national level in China over the past three decades have not been fully explored.

Methods: Research data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. The trends of crude and age-standardized incidence and mortality rates by gender of Parkinson’s disease in China were analyzed with the age-period-cohort model and the Joinpoint regression analysis. The effects of age, time period, and birth cohort on the incidence and mortality of Parkinson’s disease were estimated. The gender- and age-specific incidence and mortality rates of Parkinson’s disease from 2020 to 2030 were projected using the Bayesian age-period-cohort model with integrated nested Laplace approximations.

Results: From 1990 to 2019, the annual percentage change of the age-standardized incidence rate was 0.8% (95% CI: 0.7%–0.8%) for males and 0.2% (95% CI, 0.2–0.2%) for females. And the age-standardized mortality rate for males was 2.9% (95% CI: 2.6%–3.2%) and 1.8% (95% CI: 1.5%–2.1%) for females. The results of the age-period-cohort analysis suggested that the risk and burden of Parkinson’s disease continued to increase for the last several decades. Projection analysis suggested that the overall Parkinson’s disease incidence will continue to increase for the next decades. It was projected that China would have 4.787 million Parkinson’s patients by the year 2030, however, the mortality of Parkinson’s disease for both genders in China may keep decreasing.

Conclusion: Though the mortality risk may decrease, Parkinson’s disease continues to become more common for both genders in China, especially in the senior-aged population. The burden associated with Parkinson’s disease would continue to grow. Urgent interventions should be implemented to reduce the burden of Parkinson’s disease in China.