Special care plan does not slow decline in patients with Alzheimer's

August, 2010

A large French study has found no evidence that special care plans for dementia patients improve the outcomes.

A study involving over 1100 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease at 50 French clinics has revealed that receiving a comprehensive care plan involving regular 6-monthly assessments (with standardised guidelines for the management of problems) produced no benefits compared to receiving the usual care (an annual consultation). After two years, there was no significant difference in functional decline between the two groups, and no difference in the risk of being admitted to an institution or death. While this argues against guideline-based interventions for dementia care (widely recommended), it may be that the treatment received by both groups was superior to that received by those who do not attend a specialized memory clinic. It remains to be seen whether the findings would be different for patients being treated in general practice.

It should also be noted that this study only measured the effects on daily activities, institutionalization, and death. A number of studies have found improvements in specific behaviors (eg, reduced behavioral problems, reduced agitation, or improved quality of life) as a result of particular care programs. The fact that, in this case, interventions were more frequent early in the study compared to later, suggests that the care plan may not have been all that easy to implement.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-06/bmj-scp060310.php
http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2626.full

Reference:

[1627] Nourhashemi, F., Andrieu S., Gillette-Guyonnet S., Giraudeau B., Cantet C., Coley N., et al.
(2010). Effectiveness of a specific care plan in patients with Alzheimer's disease: cluster randomised trial (PLASA study).
BMJ. 340(jun03_1), c2466 - c2466.

seniors

treatment

Alzheimers

Related News

Complex link between head trauma and Alzheimer’s

Studies linking head trauma with increased risk and earlier age of onset for Alzheimer's disease have yielded contradictory results.

Over 90% of dementia cases in China are undetected

A survey of 7,072 older adults in six provinces across China, with one rural and one urban community in each province, has identified 359 older adults with dementia and 328 with depression.

Falling in British dementia rate

A survey of 7796 older adults (65+) living in three geographic areas in England has allowed us to compare dementia rates over time, with an identical survey having been taken between 1989 and 1994. The overall prevalence of dementia fell significantly, from 8.3% to 6.5%.

Less cognitive decline in Danish nonagenarians

A large Danish study comparing two groups of nonagenarians born 10 years apart has found that not only were people born in 1915 nearly a third (32%) more likely to reach the age of 95 than those in the 1905 cohort, but members of the group born in 1915 performed significantly better on tests of

Blood test predicts Alzheimer’s risk early

A five-year study involving 525 older adults (70+) found 46 had Alzheimer’s or aMCI and a further 28 went on to develop the conditions.

Plaques tell which MCI patients will progress to Alzheimer’s

A three-year study involving 152 adults aged 50 and older, of whom 52 had been recently diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and 31 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, has found that those with mild or no cognitive impairment who initially had amyloid-beta plaques showed greater cogniti

Variations in eye structure and function seen early in Alzheimer's

More evidence for early changes in the eye in Alzheimer’s disease comes from a study involving both rats and postmortem human retinas.

Blocking inflammation receptor helps Alzheimer's mice

Blocking a receptor involved in inflammation in the brains of mice with severe Alzheimer’s produced marked recovery in blood flow and vascular reactivity, a dramatic reduction in toxic amyloid-beta, and significant improvements in learning and memory.

Brain network decay detected in early Alzheimer's

A multi-year study involving 207 healthy older adults, in which their spinal fluids were repeatedly sampled and their brains repeatedly scanned, has found that disruptions in the default mode network emerges about the same time as chemical markers of Alzheimer’s appear in the spinal fluid (decre

Brain networks disrupted in Alzheimer's disease

An analysis of the anatomical connectivity in the brains of 15 people with Alzheimer's disease, 68 with mild cognitive impairment and 28 healthy older individuals, has found several measures showed disease effects:

Pages