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Background: Dementia has a negative impact on the quality of life of the person with dementia and their spouse caregivers, as well as on the couple’s relationship, which can lead to high levels of distress for both partners. Hypnosis has been shown to be effective in managing distress and increasing the quality of the relationship. Objective: The aim was to develop a standardized hypnosis intervention for couples confronted with Alzheimer’s disease and evaluate its feasibility, acceptability, and helpfulness in managing the distress of both partners and increasing the quality of the relationship. Methods: In a single-arm study, sixteen couples received the 8-week intervention. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were conducted pre- and post-intervention as well as three months after. Results: 88.9% of couples (n = 16) of the final sample (n = 18) completed the intervention. Despite the negative representations of hypnosis, several factors led couples to accept to participate in this study: positive expectations, professional endorsement, medical application, non-drug approach, home-based, free, flexible, and couple-based intervention. The results showed a significant decrease in distress for both partners. These effects were maintained three months after the intervention. Couples felt more relaxed, had fewer negative emotions, accepted difficulties more easily, were more patient, and reported better communication and more affection in the relationship. Conclusion: Overall, this pilot study shows the feasibility and acceptability of hypnosis with couples confronted with Alzheimer’s disease. Although measures of the preliminary pre- and post-intervention effects are encouraging, confirmatory testing with a randomized controlled trial is needed.

BACKGROUND The institutionalization of a patient with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia (ADOD) is the last resort for the latter's family and/or caregivers. We hypothesized that the degree of kinship between the patient and his/her caregiver would influence the likelihood of institutionalization. OBJECTIVE To assess the association between institutionalization of patients with ADOD and the degree of kinship with the family caregiver. METHODS A cross-sectional study of patients with ADOD aged 75 or over attending a memory center in France for the first time between 2011 and 2014, as recorded in the French National Alzheimer Database. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with institutionalization after adjustment for age, sex, the Mini-Mental State Examination score, educational level, and type of dementia. RESULTS A total of 52,874 patients were included. The primary caregiver was most often a child (54.8%) or the spouse (36.7%). Compared with the "spouse" reference category, all the other caregiver categories were associated with a significantly greater likelihood of institutionalization; the odds ratio [95% confidence interval] was 4.68 [3.67-5.92] when the carer was a grandchild, 5.48 [4.93-6.09] for a child, 4.93 [4.11-5.91] for a daughter-/son-in-law, 8.76 [7.15-10.70] for a sibling, and 8.93 [7.48-10.65] for a niece/nephew. CONCLUSION The likelihood of institutionalization of older patients with ADOD varied with the degree of kinship. Compared with the "spouse" reference category, the likelihood was higher for all other types of caregivers but was especially high when the caregiver was not a direct descendant of the patient.

The COVID-19 epidemic that started in November in China became a national epidemic from March 16, 2020 with the declaration of population containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus in France. From March 17 to March 27, 2020, the monitoring unit of the French society of geriatrics and gerontology decided to conduct a survey to analyze the implementation of the mobilization of geriatric units, given that this epidemic had shown that it resulted in excess mortality mainly among the elderly. The survey was able to bring together the response of 34 services, nine of which were located in a high epidemic cluster zone. Dedicated acute geriatric units for patients infected with COVID-19 were present in eight facilities, only outside the cluster zones. Nine geriatric follow-up and rehabilitation services were dedicated, an additional telemedicine activity concerned 35% of the facilities, and family listening and tablet communication facilities concerned 36% of the facilities. This survey is a snapshot of an initial moment in the epidemic. It provides an opportunity to describe the context in which this epidemic occurred in terms of geriatric policy, and to assess the responsiveness and inventiveness of these services in meeting the needs of the elderly.

The successful design of musical interventions for dementia patients requires knowledge of how rhythmic abilities change with disease severity. In this study, we tested the impact of the severity of the neurocognitive disorders (NCD) on the socioemotional and motor responses to music in three groups of patients with Major NCD, Mild NCD, or No NCD. Patients were asked to tap to a metronomic or musical rhythm while facing a live musician or through a video. We recorded their emotional facial reactions and their sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) abilities. Patients with No NCD or Mild NCD expressed positive socioemotional reactions to music, but patients with Major NCD did not, indicating a decrease in the positive emotional impact of music at this stage of the disease. SMS to a metronome was less regular and less precise in patients with a Major NCD than in patients with No NCD or Mild NCD, which was not the case when tapping with music, particularly in the presence of a live musician, suggesting the relevance of live performance for patients with Major NCD. These findings suggest that the socioemotional and motor reactions to music are negatively affected by the progression of the NCD.

Long-term care facility (LTCF) older residents display physiological alterations of cellular and humoral immunity that affect vaccine responses. Preliminary reports suggested a low early postvaccination antibody response against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The aim of this study was to focus on the specific T-cell response. We quantified S1-specific IgG, neutralizing antibody titers, total specific IFNγ-secreting T cells by ELISpot, and functionality of CD4+- and CD8+-specific T cells by flow cytometry, after two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine in younger and older people, with and without previous COVID-19 infection (hereafter referred to as COVID-19-recovered and COVID-19-naive subjects, respectively). Frailty, nutritional, and immunosenescence parameters were collected at baseline in COVID-19-naive older people. We analyzed the immune response in 129 young adults (median age 44.0 years) and 105 older residents living in a LCTF (median age 86.5 years), 3 months after the first injection. Humoral and cellular memory responses were dramatically impaired in the COVID-19-naive older (n = 54) compared with the COVID-19-naive younger adults (n = 121). Notably, older participants’ neutralizing antibodies were 10 times lower than the younger’s antibody titers (p + and IFNγ+IL-2+TNFα+ cells among specific CD4+ T cells, and the frequency of specific CD8+ T cells were lower in COVID-19-naive older participants than in COVID-19-naive young adults (p p = 0.0018, respectively). However, COVID-19-recovered older participants (n = 51) had greater antibody and T-cell responses, including IFNγ+ and IFNγ+IL-2+TNFα+-specific CD4+ T cells (p +-specific CD8+ T cells (p + and CD8+ T cells, in addition to impaired antibody response, and that specific studies are warranted to assess the efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccines, as in other immunocompromised subjects. Our study also shows that, despite their physiological alterations of immunity, vaccination is highly efficient in boosting the prior natural memory response in COVID-19-recovered older people.

International audience; Background Music-based interventions appear to be efficient non-pharmacological approaches to improve emotional, social, and cognitive functioning of patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Objectives Because the benefits seem to increase with patients motor involvement, we studied the ability to move in synchrony with musical rhythms and more specifically the impact of live performance compared to video recording of a musician on sensorimotor abilities in patients with cognitive impairments (AD, vascular and mixed dementia) and in patients with no evidence of cognitive impairments. Methods Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) to a metronomic or a musical stimulus was assessed in patients when they were viewing a live musician or his pre-recorded video. Results Participants were better at synchronizing to a metronome than to music but this effect was modulated by the social context. While SMS to a metronome was better when facing a video than a live performance, there was no impact of the social context on SMS to music. Lastly, we found no group differences on SMS. Conclusion The decrease in synchronization ability to metronome in the live performance may be due to the social pressure associated with the presence of the musician. Such a pressure might be removed in pleasant and ecological social activities, like moving with music, explaining the lack of the social context effect on SMS to music. Remarkably, the group with cognitive impairments performed no worse than the group without cognitive impairments, which suggests relatively spared SMS abilities in these patients. By showing that it is possible to encourage a patient to synchronize with others, even in front of a video, the results of our study indicate that SMS can be used as a relevant predictor in clinical trials and open up promising therapeutic options for patients living in remote areas.

Although frail elderly people are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of alcohol, very little work on alcohol consumption patterns in older people living in nursing homes has been undertaken.To determine alcohol consumption patterns among the residents of 8 nursing homes of the Nord Pas-de-Calais in France, and the characteristics associated with heavy drinking (≥ 3 glasses of wine or equivalent/day).All residents were invited to participate in the study on condition that they satisfied the inclusion criteria (age ≥ 60 years, Mini Mental State of Folstein (MMSE)15, agreement) and the exclusion criteria (no oral communication, end of life). Two questionnaires were used, one for the residents and the other for the personnel nursing.Three hundred and sixty-eight residents [242 females (65.8%) and 126 males (34.2%); mean age, 80.5 ± 8.9 years] participated in the study. Among them, 98 (26.6%) reported no consumption of alcohol and 21 (5.7%) reported occasional consumption. The 249 (67.7%) others reported every-day consumption, principally in the restaurant at the time of the meals. Sixty-seven (18.2%), were heavy drinkers with an early-onset alcoholism for two out of three. Compared with the other residents participating in the study, the at-risk alcohol drinkers were younger and more likely to be a man.The study confirms that the prevalence of chronic at risk consumption is high in nursing homes. More efforts are needed to identify and improve management of alcohol disorders in this particular setting.

We developed a prescribing guideline containing recommendations for the initial empirical antibiotic therapy in community or nosocomial pneumonia. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of this measure.The prescribing guideline was implemented in May 1999. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients65 years with community-, or nursing home- or hospital-acquired pneumonia hospitalised in our department of acute geriatric care between May 1999 and November 2000. The criteria assessed were: consistence with the guideline, clinical effectiveness within 72 hours, adequation with the isolated germs and intra-hospital mortality.Data were collected on 112 patients (63 women et 49 men; mean age=80 +/- 8 Years). The pneumonia was community-acquired in 52 cases (46%), nursing home acquired in 25 cases (22%) and hospital-acquired in 35 cases (31%). Antibiotic prescription was consistent with the guideline in 64 cases (57%). When the antibiotic therapy was consistent, the patients were more likely to improve within 72 hours (45/64 versus 23/48; p=0.01). Despite a tendency, the number of antimicrobial treatments adapted to the isolated microorganisms was not significantly higher in the consistent group (22/36 adapted treatments versus 10/20). The intra-hospital mortality (25%) was similar in the two groups consistent and not consistent with the guideline. SARM was the most frequent multiresistant bacteria that was isolated.The use of a prescribing guideline might improve the efficiency of empirical probabilistic antibiotic therapies. The impact of the guideline use on overall antibiotic costs and microbiological flora remains to be determined.