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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Matthew Prina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2018 The Author(s). Background: Neurodegenerative processes in the elderly damage the brain, leading to progressive, incapacitating cognitive, behavioral, and motor dysfunctions which culminate in dementia. Fully manifest dementia is likely to be preceded by the presence of neurological signs, which could serve as early determinants of dementia and predictors of mortality. The aims of this study were to assess the construct validity of a neurological battery assessed among older adults living in Latin America, and to test the association of groups of neurological signs with dementia cross-sectionally, and mortality longitudinally. Methods: The 10/66 Dementia Research Group collected information on neurological symptoms via the NEUROEX assessment in population based surveys of older adults living in low and middle-income countries. Data from 10,856 adults participating in the baseline assessment of the 10/66 study and living in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela and Mexico were analysed. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis were used to explore dimensionality of neurological symptoms. Poisson regression analyses were used to link groups of neurological signs with dementia at baseline. Cox hazard regression models were used to explore the predictive validity of neurological signs with mortality at follow up. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed four dimensions of neurological signs, which are associated with lesions of specific brain regions. The identified factors showed consistency with groups of neurological signs such as frontal, cerebellar, extrapyramidal, and more generalized gait disturbance signs. Regression analyses revealed that all groups of neurological signs were positively associated with dementia at baseline and predicted mortality at follow up. Conclusions: Our findings support the construct and predictive validity of the NEUROEX assessment, linking neurological and gait impairments with dementia at baseline, and with mortality at follow up among older adults living in five Latin American countries.
Author(s): Pasquini L, Llibre Guerra J, Prince M, Chua K-C, Prina AM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: BMC Neurology
Year: 2018
Volume: 18
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 03/10/2018
Acceptance date: 26/09/2018
Date deposited: 14/08/2023
ISSN (electronic): 1471-2377
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-018-1167-4
DOI: 10.1186/s12883-018-1167-4
PubMed id: 30285663
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