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BackgroundDementia shows sex difference in its epidemiology. Childbirth, a distinctive experience of women, is associated with the risk for various diseases. However, its association with the risk of dementia in women has rarely been studied.MethodsWe harmonized and pooled baseline data from 11 population-based cohorts from 11 countries over 3 continents, including 14,792 women aged 60 years or older. We investigated the association between parity and the risk of dementia using logistic regression models that adjusted for age, educational level, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cohort, with additional analyses by region and dementia subtype.ResultsAcross all cohorts, grand multiparous (5 or more childbirths) women had a 47% greater risk of dementia than primiparous (1 childbirth) women (odds ratio [OR] = 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10-1.94), while nulliparous (no childbirth) women and women with 2 to 4 childbirths showed a comparable dementia risk to primiparous women. However, there were differences associated with region and dementia subtype. Compared to women with 1 to 4 childbirths, grand multiparous women showed a higher risk of dementia in Europe (OR = 2.99, 95% CI = 1.38-6.47) and Latin America (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.04-2.12), while nulliparous women showed a higher dementia risk in Asia (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.33-3.47). Grand multiparity was associated with 6.9-fold higher risk of vascular dementia in Europe (OR = 6.86, 95% CI = 1.81-26.08), whereas nulliparity was associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer disease (OR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.07-3.39) and non-Alzheimer non-vascular dementia (OR = 3.47, 95% CI = 1.44-8.35) in Asia.ConclusionParity is associated with women's risk of dementia, though this is not uniform across regions and dementia subtypes.

Background: Parental history of dementia appears to increase the risk of dementia, but there have been inconsistent results. We aimed to investigate whether the association between parental history of dementia and the risk of dementia are different by dementia subtypes and sex of parent and offspring. Methods: For this cross‐sectional study, we harmonized and pooled data for 17,194 older adults from nine population‐based cohorts of eight countries. These studies conducted face‐to‐face diagnostic interviews, physical and neurological examinations, and neuropsychological assessments to diagnose dementia. We investigated the associations of maternal and paternal history of dementia with the risk of dementia and its subtypes in offspring. Results: The mean age of the participants was 72.8 ± 7.9 years and 59.2% were female. Parental history of dementia was associated with higher risk of dementia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15–1.86) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.31–2.26), but not with the risk of non‐AD. This was largely driven by maternal history of dementia, which was associated with the risk of dementia (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.15–1.97) and AD (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.33–2.43) whereas paternal history of dementia was not. These results remained significant when males and females were analyzed separately (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.28–3.55 in males; OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.16–2.44 for females). Conclusions: Maternal history of dementia was associated with the risk of dementia and AD in both males and females. Maternal history of dementia may be a useful marker for identifying individuals at higher risk of AD and stratifying the risk for AD in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are growing concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of older adults. We examined the effect of the pandemic on the risk of depression in older adults. Methods: We analyzed data from the prospective cohort study of Korean older adults, which has been followed every 2 years. Among the 2308 participants who completed both the third and the fourth follow-up assessments, 58.4% completed their fourth follow-up before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the rest completed it during the pandemic. We conducted face-to-face diagnostic interviews using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and used Geriatric Depression Scale. We performed generalized estimating equations and logistic regression analyses. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased depressive symptoms in older adults [ b (standard error) = 0.42 (0.20), p = 0.040] and a doubling of the risk for incident depressive disorder even in euthymic older adults without a history of depression (odds ratio = 2.44, 95% confidence interval 1.18–5.02, p = 0.016). Less social activities, which was associated with the risk of depressive disorder before the pandemic, was not associated with the risk of depressive disorder during the pandemic. However, less family gatherings, which was not associated with the risk of depressive disorder before the pandemic, was associated with the doubled risk of depressive disorder during the pandemic. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influences the risk of late-life depression in the community. Older adults with a lack of family gatherings may be particularly vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of two empathy enhancement programs on direct care workers of older adults living alone in South Korea. Methods: A total of 104 direct care workers participated in either a simulation-based program or a lecture-based program. Data were collected prior to and 2 weeks after the program implementation using self-reported questionnaires. Results: The lecture-based group had significantly higher levels of empathy compared to the simulation-based group. Pretest-posttest differences were found in the lecture-based group only, including higher levels of empathy and caring efficacy and lower levels of secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Conclusions: More studies are needed to identify helpful components of empathy enhancement programs to direct care workers working with older adults living alone. Also, a further randomized controlled trial study is needed to assess programs' effectiveness on older adults living alone and direct care workers. Clinical implications: A lecture-based empathy enhancement program can increase levels of empathy and caring efficacy of direct care workers working with older adults and decrease care workers' levels of burnout and stress. Training for direct care workers of older adults is needed to improve the empathy of direct care workers while reducing their stress and burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The recruitment of monocytes to the brain plays an important role in the development of depression. However, the association between plasma biomarkers of monocyte trafficking and depression is unclear. This study is aimed to examine the effects of plasma monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) on the risk of depression.Methods: Data were acquired from an ongoing prospective cohort study involving randomly sampled, community-dwelling Korean older adults, which has been followed every 2 years. We included 1539 euthymic older adults (age = 68.2 [5.6] years; 51.7% were women) without a history of major psychiatric disorders and dementia and neurological diseases. Geriatric psychiatrists diagnosed incident depression through a structured interview using the Korean version of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview.Results: Depression had developed in 134 (8.7%) participants during the follow-up period of 5.7 (0.8) years. The high-plasma MCP-1 tertile group showed twofold higher risk of depression than the low-plasma MCP-1 tertile group (hazards ratio = 2.00, 95% confidence interval = 1.27-3.13, p = .003). The association between high levels of plasma MCP-1 and future risk of depression was significant in the middle-plasma ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 tertile groups; the high-plasma MCP-1 tertile group showed about fourfold higher risk of depression than the low-plasma MCP-1 tertile group.Conclusions: Molecules involved in monocyte trafficking may be good candidates as diagnostic biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets for late-life depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : The purpose of this study is to show that there was a significant result in prescribing Herb remedy and Korean-Bee-Venom acupuncture and acupuncture & moxibustion therapy to Urinary incontinence patients due to Neurologic Bladder caused by Cauda equina syndrome after having an vertebrae lumbale operation. Methods : The methods used in this study was observe the patient's subjective improvement, valuation of the bladder function and the change of the sensibility drop when Herb remedy and Korean-Bee-Venom acupuncture and acupuncture was applied . Results : When acupuncture and Korean-Bee-Venom acupuncture was both applied the function of Bladder changed from score 10 to 0 and the Grade of Urinary Incontinence changed from Grade III to 0 also with the sensibility drop. Conclusion : The results show that when using Umnungchon(SP9), Yangnungchon (GB34), Taedon(LR1), Kokkol(CV2) there was an effect to some degree to the Urinary incontinence patients but when Korean-Bee-Venom was acupunctured to Kwanwon(CV4) and Kihae(CV6) the effect increased. Further studies and examples for evidence are required.