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Hemrungrojn S, Amrapala A, Maes M. Construction of a short version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) rating scale for the Thai population using Partial Least Squares analysis. Int J Neurosci 2024; 134:16-27. [PMID: 35695242 DOI: 10.1080/00207454.2022.2082966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) rating scale is frequently used to assess cognitive impairments in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to a) evaluate the construct validity of the MoCA and its subdomains or whether the MoCA can be improved by feature reduction, and b) develop a short version of the MoCA (MoCA-Brief) for the Thai population. METHODS We recruited 181 participants, namely 60 healthy controls, 61 aMCI, and 60 AD patients. RESULTS The construct reliability of the original MoCA was not optimal and could be improved by deleting one subdomain (Naming) and five items, namely Clock Circle, Lion, Digit Forward, Repeat 2nd Sentence, and Place, which showed inadequate loadings on their latent vectors. To construct the MoCA-Brief, the reduced model underwent further reduction and feature selection based on model quality data of the outer models. We produced a MoCA-Brief rating scale comprising five items, namely Clock Time, Subtract 7, Fluency, Month, and Year. The first latent vector extracted from these five indicators showed adequate construct validity with an Average Variance Extracted of 0.599, composite reliability of 0.822, Cronbach's alpha of 0.832 and rho A of 0.833. The MoCA-Brief factor score showed a strong correlation with the total MoCA score (r = 0.98, p < 0.001) and shows adequate concurrent, test-retest, and inter-rater validity. CONCLUSION The construct validity of the MoCA may be improved by deleting five items. The new MoCA-Brief rating scale deserves validation in independent samples and especially in other countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solaphat Hemrungrojn
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Arisara Amrapala
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Michael Maes
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Plovdiv and Technological Center for Emergency Medicine, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Deakin University, IMPACT, the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Geelong, Australia
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Amrapala A, Sabé M, Solmi M, Maes M. Neuropsychiatric disturbances in mild cognitive impairment: A scientometric analysis. Ageing Res Rev 2023; 92:102129. [PMID: 37981054 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2023.102129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) have been extensively studied in dementia than its prodromal stage, known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A scientometric study on BPSD in MCI would be valuable in synthesizing the existing body of research and providing insights into the trends, networks, and influencers within this area. We searched for related literature in the Web of Science database and extracted complete text and citation records of each publication. The primary objective was to map the research evolution of BPSD in MCI and highlight dominant research themes. The secondary objective was to identify research network characteristics (authors, journals, countries, and institutions) and abundances. A total of 12,369 studies published between 1980 and 2022 were included in the analysis. We found 51 distinct clusters from the co-cited reference network that were highly credible with significant modularity (Q = 0.856) and silhouette scores (S = 0.932). Five major research domains were identified: symptoms, diagnosis, brain substrates, biochemical pathways, and interventions. In recent years, the research focus in this area has been on gut microbiota, e-health, COVID-19, cognition, and delirium. Collectively, findings from this scientometric analysis can help clarify the scope and direction of future research and clinical practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arisara Amrapala
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; Center of Excellence in Digital and AI for Mental Health, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
| | - Michel Sabé
- Division of Adult Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, Thonex, Switzerland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Marco Solmi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Department of Mental Health, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) Clinical Epidemiology Program University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Michael Maes
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Plovdiv and Technological Center for Emergency Medicine, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Research Institute, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; Key Laboratory of Psychosomatic Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China.
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Hemrungrojn S, Tangwongchai S, Charernboon T, Phanasathit M, Chaipresertsud P, Maleevach P, Likitjaroen Y, Phanthumchinda K, Assawatinna R, Amrapala A, Maes M. Cognitive impairments predict the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Front Neurol 2023; 14:1194917. [PMID: 37545719 PMCID: PMC10400323 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1194917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The purpose of this study was to (1) validate the Thai version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) as a screening tool for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), and (2) examine the relationship between cognitive performance and BPSD in an elderly population with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT). Methods One hundred and twenty participants, comprising 80 aMCI and 40 DAT patients, and their respective caregivers were included in the study. Participants completed the NPI-Q and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) within 2 weeks of each other and cognitive performance was primarily assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results The Thai NPI-Q had good validity and reliability. Pure exploratory bifactor analysis revealed that a general factor and a single-group factor (with high loadings on delusions, hallucinations, apathy, and appetite) underpinned the NPI-Q domains. Significant negative correlations between the MoCA total score and the general and single-group NPI-Q scores were found in all subjects (aMCI + DAT combined) and DAT alone, but not in aMCI. Cluster analysis allocated subjects with BPSD (10% of aMCI and 50% of DAT participants) into a distinct "DAT + BPSD" class. Conclusion The NPI-Q is an appropriate instrument for assessing BPSD and the total score is largely predicted by cognitive deficits. It is plausible that aMCI subjects with severe NPI-Q symptoms (10% of our sample) may have a poorer prognosis and constitute a subgroup of aMCI patients who will likely convert into probable dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solaphat Hemrungrojn
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, the Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Sookjaroen Tangwongchai
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, the Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Thammanard Charernboon
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Muthita Phanasathit
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | | | | | - Yuttachai Likitjaroen
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Kammant Phanthumchinda
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Ratiya Assawatinna
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Arisara Amrapala
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, the Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Michael Maes
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, the Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Fitness and Biopsychiatry Technology Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Plovdiv and Technological Center for Emergency Medicine, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- Mental Health Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
- Research Institute, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
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Almulla AF, Supasitthumrong T, Amrapala A, Tunvirachaisakul C, Jaleel AKKA, Oxenkrug G, Al-Hakeim HK, Maes M. The Tryptophan Catabolite or Kynurenine Pathway in Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Alzheimers Dis 2022; 88:1325-1339. [PMID: 35786655 DOI: 10.3233/jad-220295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized by progressive brain dysfunction and memory loss, is one of the most significant global health concerns for older adults. Neuroinflammation and increased oxidative stress contribute to the pathophysiology of AD, thereby presumably inducing tryptophan (TRP) degradation through the TRP catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway. OBJECTIVE To delineate the activity of the TRYCAT pathway along with levels of TRP and tryptophan catabolites (TRYCATs) in AD patients. METHODS We used PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and SciFinder during the month of January 2022 to gather the pertinent publications. We found 19 eligible articles which involved 738 patients and 665 healthy controls. RESULTS Our results revealed a significant difference (p = 0.008) in the kynurenine (KYN)/TRP ratio (standardized mean difference, SMD = 0.216, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.057; 0.376), and a significant decrease in TRP in AD patients (SMD = -0.520, 95% CI: -0.738; -0.302, p < 0.0001). Moreover, we also found a significant increase in the central nervous system (CNS), brain, and cerebrospinal fluid kynurenic acid (KA)/KYN ratio but not in peripheral blood, as well as a significant decrease in plasma KA and xanthurenic acid in the CNS and blood. CONCLUSION AD is characterized by TRP depletion but not by an overactivity of the TRYCAT pathway. IDO-induced production of neurotoxic TRYCATs is not a key factor in the pathophysiology of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbas F Almulla
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.,Medical Laboratory Technology Department, College of Medical Technology, The Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq
| | | | - Arisara Amrapala
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | - Al-Karrar Kais Abdul Jaleel
- Medical Laboratory Technology Department, College of Medical Technology, The Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq
| | - Gregory Oxenkrug
- Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Michael Maes
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.,Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.,Department of Psychiatry, IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
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