MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the memory clinic at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). Medical records data from 2014 to 2019 were extracted. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) test was used to assess the neurocognitive function of patients.
RESULTS: A total of 298 patients (30 MCI, and 268 dementia) were evaluated, with dementia patients consisting of 78 Alzheimer's disease (AD), 93 Vascular dementia (VaD), 94 Mixed dementia, 2 early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and 1 Logopenic Progressive Aphasia type of AD (LPA). MCI and dementia were significantly associated with a history of CVD, particularly stroke (p=0.023).
CONCLUSION: Given that stroke significantly predicted the risk of developing vascular dementia among the patients in a central Malaysian population, lifestyle modifications are recommended to alleviate these risk factors of CVD.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 202 caregivers to PWD in home-based settings. Recruited caregivers were administered questionnaires regarding BPSD which was measured using Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI-Q), caregiver burden using Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Brief COPE for coping strategies and Big-Five Inventory which measured personality traits.
RESULTS: Majority of the caregivers were female (71.3%), aged 50 and above (55%), single (46%), married (43.6%), working full time (45%) while the rest work part time (22.3%), unemployed (7.4%) and retiree (25.2%), and majority were parents (58.9%) and spouse (18.3%). The duration of caregiving was less than a year (33.7%) while the rest are more than a year. Results demonstrated that the most frequent types of BPSD exhibited by PWD was irritability, followed by apathy and agitation. All of the types of BPSD showed to be significantly correlated to caregiver burden except for anxiety, elation and appetite. Of personality traits, only conscientiousness was found to mediate the relationship between BPSD and caregiver burden (p