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Objectives: This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to determine the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation among informal carers of individuals with dementia and to identify potential influencing factors. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across 10 electronic databases, including PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, Chinese Biomedical, China National Knowledge Internet, and WANFANG. Our search strategy covered the inception of the databases up to September 16, 2023, with an updated search conducted on March 8, 2024. Prevalence estimates of loneliness and social isolation, presented with 95% confidence intervals, were synthesized through meta‐analysis. Subgroup analyses and meta‐regression were employed to explore potential moderating variables and heterogeneity. Results: The study encompassed 27 research papers involving 11,134 informal carers from 17 different countries. The pooled prevalence of loneliness among informal carers of individuals with dementia was 50.8% (95% CI: 41.8%–59.8%), while the pooled prevalence of social isolation was 37.1% (95% CI: 26.7%–47.6%). Subgroup analyses and meta‐regression indicated that various factors significantly influenced the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation. These factors included the caregiving setting, study design, the intensity of loneliness, geographical location (continent), data collection time, and the choice of assessment tools. Conclusions: This study underscores the substantial prevalence of loneliness and social isolation among informal carers of individuals with dementia. It suggests that policymakers and healthcare providers should prioritize the development of targeted interventions and support systems to alleviate loneliness and social isolation within this vulnerable population. Key points: Informal carers of people with dementia contend with unique circumstances that render them susceptible to both loneliness and social isolation.There is a significant prevalence of loneliness and social isolation in informal carers of individuals with dementia.Several significant moderators influence the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation among informal carers of individuals with dementia.Moderator analysis can guide targeted interventions and support systems for at‐risk informal carers of people with dementia to alleviate loneliness and social isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To establish an understanding of healthcare professionals' dementia knowledge and attitudes towards dementia care, and family carers' perceptions of dementia care in China. Background: Healthcare professionals and family carers of people with dementia deliver most of the dementia care in China. However, little research on healthcare professionals' dementia knowledge and attitudes towards dementia care, and family carers' dementia care perceptions has been conducted in China. Methods: An integrative review was conducted and reported based on the PRISMA guidelines and Whittemore and Knafl's framework. Eight English databases were searched without date restriction: CINAHL Plus with Full Text, MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO and Scopus; and three Chinese databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing Weipu and Wanfang, plus a manual search of reference lists. Results: Thirty‐eight primary research papers were included in the review. Three themes were identified from the synthesis: (a) knowledge and competency; (b) attitudes towards dementia care; and (c) carers' burden and unmet needs. Healthcare professionals' dementia knowledge ranged from low to moderate levels and attitudes towards dementia care were generally negative. With low levels of knowledge of dementia and negative attitudes including stigma, family carers were under stress with insufficient support, and they expected more support from community nurses. Conclusions: There is an apparent need for a national policy on healthcare professional education and training to improve dementia care practice in China. Such a policy may improve support services for family carers. Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses, and particularly community nurses, are well‐positioned to support family carers in China. However, healthcare professionals in China are not prepared for this. Therefore, education and training on dementia care should be integrated into medical and nursing undergraduate programmes and provided for healthcare professionals after commencing employment, and strategies to reduce stigma are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim to provide an overview of clinical and demographical features and neuropathological research on frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from China over the past decade. We reviewed the demographic features, clinical presentations, and neuropathology of the FTD-spectrum disorders from the 49 cases in China published since 1998. On the basis of these findings, we retrospect the history and speculate on future progress in terms of FTD in China. We found that most published papers comprise case reports with a few retrospective studies with small sample sizes. Behavior variant FTD (bvFTD) was the most common diagnostic subtype, of which 35% were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Parkinsonian syndrome. More than 47% patients with FTD had age onset before 65. There were no differences in age of onset and sex distribution between diagnostic subtypes. The spectrum of neuropathological diagnosis of bvFTD was frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD) with tau protein or ubiquitin-immunopositive inclusions, and FTLD without intracellular inclusions. Median survival in bvFTD was 14 years. This paper provides an overview of the current status and pointers for future research directions of FTD in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: More people with dementia live in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) than in high‐income countries, but best‐practice care recommendations are often based on studies from high‐income countries. We aimed to map the available evidence on dementia interventions in LMICs. Methods: We systematically mapped available evidence on interventions that aimed to improve the lives of people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and/or their carers in LMICs (registered on PROSPERO: CRD42018106206). We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2008 and 2018. We searched 11 electronic academic and grey literature databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, Global Health, World Health Organization Global Index Medicus, Virtual Health Library, Cochrane CENTRAL, Social Care Online, BASE, MODEM Toolkit) and examined the number and characteristics of RCTs according to intervention type. We used the Cochrane risk of bias 2.0 tool to assess the risk of bias. Results: We included 340 RCTs with 29,882 (median, 68) participants, published 2008–2018. Over two‐thirds of the studies were conducted in China (n = 237, 69.7%). Ten LMICs accounted for 95.9% of included RCTs. The largest category of interventions was Traditional Chinese Medicine (n = 149, 43.8%), followed by Western medicine pharmaceuticals (n = 109, 32.1%), supplements (n = 43, 12.6%), and structured therapeutic psychosocial interventions (n = 37, 10.9%). Overall risk of bias was judged to be high for 201 RCTs (59.1%), moderate for 136 (40.0%), and low for 3 (0.9%). Conclusions: Evidence‐generation on interventions for people with dementia or MCI and/or their carers in LMICs is concentrated in just a few countries, with no RCTs reported in the vast majority of LMICs. The body of evidence is skewed towards selected interventions and overall subject to high risk of bias. There is a need for a more coordinated approach to robust evidence‐generation for LMICs. Key points: While the majority of people with dementia reside in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), it is not known what types of interventions have been studied in these settings and how effective they are.We conducted the first comprehensive mapping study of interventions for people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and/or their carers in LMICs.This high‐level overview of dementia intervention research in LMICs identified the following gaps: dementia intervention research is highly concentrated in just a few LMICs, and skewed towards Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western pharmaceuticals, and supplements, with comparatively little evidence generated on interventions for carers.Lack of robust and locally relevant evidence on effective interventions presents a substantial challenge to designing evidence‐based treatment and care systems that help people with dementia or MCI and their carers to live better lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in our older adult population, there is a need for dementia training for informal and formal dementia caregivers. The objective of this scoping study is to assess dementia knowledge instruments utilized in educational programs and interventions intended for formal and informal dementia caregivers. Scoping review methodology was used to search PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Web of Science with tailored database search terms. The search yielded 8101 results, with 35 studies meeting inclusion. Studies were conducted in eight countries, had varying study designs (randomized controlled trials [RCTs] = 9, non‐RCTs = 6, one‐group study design = 20) and utilized previously published (19) and author developed (16) instruments. Furthermore, the studies were internationally diverse, conducted in the United States (n = 18), Australia (n = 7), UK (n = 3), China (n = 2), Canada (n = 2), Taiwan (n = 1), Brazil (n = 1) and multi‐country (n = 1). Only two studies focused on minority populations. While author‐developed instruments may be more relevant and timesaving, studies should strive to validate instruments or use previously published instruments to help standardize findings across studies and understand better the effects of educational programs on caregiver knowledge. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 397–413. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]