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BACKGROUND: We investigated the effects of apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 and its interactions with sociodemographic characteristics on cognitive measures in South Asians from the Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study of India (LASI‐DAD). METHODS: Linear regression was used to assess the association between APOE ε4 and global‐ and domain‐specific cognitive function in 2563 participants (mean age 69.6 ± 7.3 years; 53% female). Effect modification by age, sex, and education were explored using interaction terms and subgroup analyses. RESULTS: APOE ε4 was inversely associated with most cognitive measures (p < 0.05). This association was stronger with advancing age for the Hindi Mental State Examination (HMSE) score (βε4×age = −0.44, p = 0.03), orientation (βε4×age = −0.07, p = 0.01), and language/fluency (βε4×age = −0.07, p = 0.01), as well as in females for memory (βε4×male = 0.17, p = 0.02) and language/fluency (βε4×male = 0.12, p = 0.03). DISCUSSION: APOE ε4 is associated with lower cognitive function in South Asians from India, with a more pronounced impact observed in females and older individuals. Highlights: APOE ε4 carriers had lower global and domain‐specific cognitive performance.Females and older individuals may be more susceptible to ε4 effects.For most cognitive measures, there was no interaction between ε4 and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Gait impairment leads to increased dependence, morbidity, institutionalization, and mortality in older people. We intended to assess gait parameters with the continuum of cognitive impairment and observe variation with the severity of cognitive impairment. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at the memory clinic of a tertiary care center. One hundred and twelve subjects were recruited, and cognition was assessed by the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Usual gait was assessed by a 6-m walk test, and the dynamic gait was assessed using Biodex Gait Trainer™. Apart from crude analysis, adjusted linear regression was used to find the association of spatiotemporal gait parameters with cognitive decline. Results: Subjects were divided into subjective cognitive decline (SCD; n = 38), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 40), and major neurocognitive disorder (MNCD; n = 34) groups. History of falls (23.7% vs. 30.0% vs. 67.7%, P < 0.001) and impaired activities of daily living (ADLs) (5.3% vs. 15.0% vs. 100%, P < 0.001) were significantly higher with cognitive decline. Age- and gender-adjusted regression analysis revealed that usual gait speed (0.8 vs. 0.6 vs. 0.5, P < 0.001) (m/s), total time (3.9 vs. 2.9 vs. 2.6, P = 0.022) (min), total distance (65.6 vs. 55.8 vs. 46.6, P = 0.025) (m), step cycle time (0.6 vs. 0.8 vs. 0.8, P = 0.020) (cycles/s), and step lengths were significant. Conclusion: Gait speed and other parameters worsened with increasing cognitive impairment. Changes in gait parameters might be a useful marker of declining cognition, though a long-term follow-up study is required to establish this association. Early intervention could be beneficial in preserving autonomy in patients with cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low and middle-income countries like India anticipate rapid population aging and increases in dementia burden. In India, dementia screening scales originally developed in other contexts need to be assessed for feasibility and validity, given the number of different languages and varying levels of literacy and education. Method: Using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (N = 4,028), we characterize the performance of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). We described patterns and correlates of missingness, evaluated the psychometric properties of the scale, and assessed criterion validity against the Hindi Mental State Examination (HMSE) using linear regression. Results: Several IQCODE items had high levels of missingness, which was associated with urbanicity, respondent's gender, and informant's generation (same vs. younger generation). Full IQCODE scores showed strong criterion validity against the HMSE; each 1-point increase in IQCODE score was associated with a 3.03-point lower score on the HMSE, controlling for age, gender, and urbanicity. The statistically significant association between IQCODE and HMSE was stronger in urban than rural settings (p-value for interaction = 0.04). Associations between IQCODE and HMSE remained unchanged after removing the three items with the highest levels of differential missingness (remembering addresses and telephone numbers, ability to work with familiar machines, ability to learn to use new gadget or machine). Conclusion: Findings raise questions about the value of including items with high proportions of missingness, which may signal cultural irrelevance, while removing them did not affect criterion validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: rs4340ID polymorphism of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) correlates with serum ACE levels in many known cancers. This study analyzed ACE rs4340 ID polymorphism in lung cancer (LC) in older patients of North India and correlated it with addiction status. Methods: The study enrolled all subjects aged 60 years and above with 154 LC and 205 healthy controls. Genotyping was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and validated by sequencing of 10% of the sample. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS Statistics 21. Results: Genotype II was observed to have a significant 2.21-fold increased risk of LC as compared to the DD genotype and 3.43-folds enhanced risk with interaction of I allele with tobacco consumption habits as compared to D allele in LC was seen. Conclusion: The risk of LC was higher with II genotype as compared to DD genotype. Interactive effect showed that I allele with tobacco habits may increase the risk of LC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]