executive dysfunction in patients with cerebrovascular risk factors laura grande, ph.d. geriatric...
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Executive Dysfunction in Patients with Cerebrovascular
Risk FactorsLaura Grande, Ph.D.
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory,
New England GRECC
VA Boston Healthcare System
Harvard Medical School
August 23, 2006
Neuropsychology: What is it good for?
Neuropsychology
• Behavioral expression of brain dysfunction
• Neuropsych exam:– Assists in diagnosis– Pt care (management & planning)
• Provides insight into level of functioning
• Not only elderly and geriatric pt’s
Neuropsychology and Medicine
• Ability for self-care and independence
• Understanding and remembering instructions and recommendations
• Managing complex medical regimens
• Remembering and accurately verbalizing concerns to physician
• Pt safety (driving)
Cognitive Impairment
• Dementia - prototypical
• Two most common forms:– Vascular dementia (VaD)– Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (AD)
• Differ in initial cognitive changes
Learning/Memory
AttentionExecutiveFunctions
LanguageVisuo-spatial
Domains of Cognition
Learning/Memory
Attention ExecutiveFunctions
LanguageVisuo-spatial
Domains of Cognition
Cortical DementiaAlzheimer’s Disease
• Affects every area of behavior• Learning and memory - problems with new
information, better recall for older memories • Visuoperceptual - poor copying & constructional
abilities• Language - speech, comprehension, semantic
problems, naming, empty speech• Executive functions• Personality - emotional changes, irritability, lack of
awareness• Insidious onset, steady decline
Alzheimer’s Disease
Vascular (Multi-Infarct) Dementia
• Learning and memory - problems learning and remembering new information, relatively better than AD pts.
• Other cognitive deficits may include– Language - aphasia– Motor - apraxia– Visuospatial - agnosia– Executive functions - inattention
• Personality - later in course of disease• Acute onset, step-wise decline• Similar to subcortical dementias (PD, HD)
Vascular Dementia (VaD)• VaD may not be a specific single disease.
• VaD associated with neuroanatomical changes resulting from vascular disease.
• DSM-IV criteria - mandatory memory impairment.
• Cognitive impairment observed in those at risk for VaD (Brady et al 1999; Pugh et al in prep).
Bowler, Steenhuis & Hachinski (1999); Schmidtke & Hill (2002)
Memory vs. Executive Function
• “Memory” problems - Elderly– Most commonly reported cognitive problem– Pts concerned about Alzheimer’s disease– Many problems labeled as memory
• Executive dysfunction in those at risk for VaD– Hypertension (Brady et al 2001), diabetes (Pugh et al 2004)
– Problems detected prior to pt/family report
• Associated with frontal lobe functions.
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Heart Dis & Stroke, 42%Suicides, homicies, 2%MVA 1%Accidents, 3%Kidney Disease, 3%Liver Disease, 1%Respiratory Disease, 6%Pneumonia & Influ., 4%AD, 3%Diabetes, 3%Cancer, 31%HIV, 1%
Major Causes of Death in MA - 2001
American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics — 2005 Update. Dallas, Tex.: American Heart Association; 2004
Early identification and Screening• Evaluation occurs after problems are noticed.
• Cognitive testing for all patients?– Unnecessary, time consuming, expensive
• Screening in the primary care clinics?– Physicians reported need for screening (Hogervorst et al, 2001)
– Time is biggest obstacle– Test familiarity
• Could cognitive decline be minimized by early detection?
• Obtain useful information through observation and discussion– Pt’s use of language– Pt’s memory for own personal history, and new
learning– Pt’s ability to attend and stay on topic
• Naturalistic environment
Non-Formal Assessment
Clock Drawing Test as a Screener
• Considered measure of executive functioning.• Good psychometric properties across versions and
scoring procedures.• Highly correlated with other cognitive measures.• Quick administration (≈ 2 minutes).• Useful as a screening tool in the medical setting?
Please read and do the following carefully:
In the blue box on the next page:
Draw a picture of a clock
Put in all the numbers
Set the time to ten after eleven.
Hand this sheet back and go to the next page
Clock Scoring
• Working Memory Subscale– Correct square
– Resembles clock
– Includes all numbers
– Correct time indicated (in any manner)
• Four WM points
• Planning & Organization Subscale– Appropriate size– Numbers in correct order– Numbers evenly spaced– Hands of different length
• Four PO points
Total Score = WM subscale + PO subscale
Clock-in-a-Box Score = 8
Clock-in-a-Box Score = 6
Clock-in-a-Box Score = 5
Clock-in-a-Box Score = 3
Clock-in-a-Box = 0
CIB Participants
• 191 participants– 56 Healthy controls (HC)– 135 Cardiovascular pts
• 31 Geriatric patients– Referred for evaluation at MGH
Demographic Information
HC CV Geri
Age, M(SD) 65 (8) 66 (9) 78 (9)
Education, M(SD)* 15 (3) 13 (2) 14(2)
Sex (n, % male) 26, 46% 97, 72% 17, 55%
Race (n, % Caucasian) 39, 70% 59, 66% 28, 90%
MMSE* 28.2 27.0 --
*
*
CIB - Total Score
0
2
4
6
8
CIB
HCCVGeri
*
* p<.01
*
CIB - Subscores
0
1
2
3
4
Working Memory Planning &Organization
HCCVGeri
*
* p<.01
**
CIB & EF Measures
Trail A Trail B Phonemic
Fluency
Semantic Fluency
CIB Total .074 -.257 * .192 * .010
Working Memory .097 -.166 * .065 .026
Planning/Organization .031 .255 * .240* .005
* p<.05
CIB & Memory Measures
Learning Recall Retention Recognition
CIB Total .330* .304 * .130 .160*
Working Memory .249* .249 * .111 .133
Planning/Organization .300* .263 * .107 .138*
* p<.05
Is the CIB a predictor?
• Does CIB predict performance on standardized cognitive measures?– Stepwise linear regression
• CIB total, age & education entered into model
Prediction of performance
• Executive Function Measures– Trail Making A
54.6 + CIB (-2.211) + Educ (-1.39) + Age (.345)
– Trail Making B199.98 + CIB (-14.75) + Educ (-7) + Age (.237)
– NOT a significant predictor of fluency
• Memory Measures– Learning
10.64 + Educ (.341) + CIB (.273) + Age (-.137)
– Recall3.09 + CIB (.279) + Educ (.256) + Age (-.175)
– Retention54.25 + CIB (.194)
– NOT a significant predictor of recognition
Cycle of ProblemsCardiac Illness
Diabetes
Missing medicationsNot following Dr.’s plan
Illnesses not well-controlled
White matter changesDisrupted frontal lobe messages
Problems with planning & problem
solving
Difficulty managing own medications
and problems following Dr.’s plan
Procedures for Registering and Getting CE credit
• VA people go to https://vaww.ees.aac.va.gov
• Non-VA go to https://www.ees-learning.net
• First-time users will need to “click for first time users”; others should enter username and password
• On “Librix homepage” click on “Available courses” and enter keyword “geriatric”
• Click on “Geriatric Audioconference Series: Executive Dysfunction…”
• Click on “Sign me in” and follow procedures
For Further Information:
• Vascular Dementia and CIB– Laura Grande, PhD– [email protected]
• New England GRECC– Kathy Horvath, PhD RN– [email protected]
• Geriatric Audioconference Series– Ken Shay, DDS, MS– [email protected]
• Evaluation and CE Credit– http://vaww.sites.lrn.va.gov/vacatalog/cu_detail.asp?id=22502 – Instructions in “Brochure”
Upcoming Calls
• Thursday, September 28, 3 pm eastern: “Sleep disorders in older people” (Sepulveda and Madison GRECCs)