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Background: COVID-19-related restrictions led to an increase in overall loneliness and social isolation. Before the pandemic, care partners reported higher levels of loneliness and higher loneliness prevalence compared to non-care partners. Because of the spread and severity of the infections, and the access to support spread, we expect a different impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LATAM care partners., Objectives: To describe the loneliness levels of LATAM caregivers and to identify socioeconomic and health factors associated., Design: An international online cross-sectional survey for care partners, embedded within the 'Coping with Loneliness and Isolation during COVID-19' (CLIC) Study conducted between June 2020- and November 2020., Setting: We analysed data from 246 family care partners living in Latin American countries (46% Mexico, 26% Chile,18% Brazil, and 10% from Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala y Costa Rica)., Measurements: We assessed loneliness using the 6-items of De Jong Gierveld loneliness Scale. We described the levels of overall, emotional, and social loneliness pre and during Covid, and reported the distribution of care partners who improved, worsened or maintained their levels of loneliness. Moreover, we used longitudinal multiple linear regression models with bootstraps errors of 1,000 iterations to identify factors associated with the levels of overall, emotional, and social loneliness during the pandemic., Results: Participants were mostly women, 50 years and older, in a partnership, highly educated and with finances meeting their needs, with good to excellent physical and mental health. Among the total of care partners, 55% perceived higher overall loneliness, 56% higher emotional loneliness, and 21% higher social loneliness during the pandemic in comparison with pre-COVID-19 levels. Perceived mental health was associated with the overall, emotional, and social loneliness., Conclusions: Regardless of their living and health situation, during the pandemic, loneliness increased in all groups of care partners. These should be taken in consideration when planning public health approaches for crises such as pandemics or other large-scale disruptive events., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Leon, Tapia-Munoz, Slachevsky, Beber, Aguzzoli, Nubia, Vilar-Compte, Gaitan-Rossi, Olavarria, Castro, Pinto, Guajardo, Grycuk, Chen, Leroi, Lawlor, Duran-Aniotz, O’ Sullivan and Miranda-Castillo.)

The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) is a screening test that measures executive functions. Although this instrument has been validated in several countries, its diagnostic utility in a Chilean population has not been studied yet., Objectives: This study aimed to (1) adapt FAB in a Chilean population; (2) study the psychometric properties of the FAB in a Chilean population; (3) assess the sociodemographic influence in the performance of the FAB in a sample of healthy controls (HC); and (4) develop normative data for this healthy group., Methods: A HC (n=344) and a group of patients with dementia (n=156) were assessed with the Chilean version of FAB., Results: FAB showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.79) and acceptable validity based on the relationship with other variables. Factor analysis showed the unidimensionality of the instrument. Significant differences were found in the total FAB value between the HC and dementia groups. With the matched sample, the established cutoff point was 13.5, showing a sensitivity of 80.8% and a specificity of 90.4%. Regression analysis showed that education and age significantly predicted FAB performance in the healthy group. Finally, normative data are provided., Conclusions: This study shows that FAB is a useful tool to discriminate between healthy people and people with dementia. However, further studies are needed to explore the capacity of the instrument to characterize the dysexecutive syndrome in people with dementia in the Chilean population., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Background: People with dementia and their family caregivers may face a great burden through social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be manifested as various behavioral and clinical symptoms., Objective: To investigate the impacts of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with dementia and their family caregivers., Methods: Two semi-structured questionnaires were applied via telephone to family caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia in three cities in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, in order to assess clinical and behavioral changes in people with dementia and in their caregivers., Results: In general, 321 interviews were conducted. A significant decline in memory function has been reported among 53.0%of people with dementia. In addition, 31.2%of individuals with dementia felt sadder and 37.4%had increased anxiety symptoms. These symptoms of anxiety were greater in individuals with mild to moderate dementia, while symptoms of agitation were greater in individuals with severe dementia. Moreover, compulsive-obsessive behavior, hallucinations, increased forgetfulness, altered appetite, and increased difficulty in activities of daily living were reported more frequently among individuals with moderate to severe dementia. Caregivers reported feeling more tired and overwhelmed during this period and these symptoms were also influenced by the severity of dementia., Conclusion: Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a series of negative behavioral repercussions, both for people with dementia and for their family caregivers in these three South American countries.

Introduction: Expert knowledge is critical to fight dementia in inequitable regions like Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs). However, the opinions of aging experts on public policies' accessibility and transmission, stigma, diagnostic manuals, data-sharing platforms, and use of behavioral insights (BIs) are not well known., Methods: We investigated opinions among health professionals working on aging in LACs (N = 3365) with regression models including expertise-related information (public policies, BI), individual differences (work, age, academic degree), and location., Results: Experts specified low public policy knowledge ( X 2  = 41.27, P  < .001), high levels of stigma ( X 2  = 2636.37, P  < .001), almost absent BI knowledge ( X 2  = 56.58, P  < .001), and needs for regional diagnostic manuals ( X 2  = 2893.63, df  = 3, P  < .001) and data-sharing platforms (X 2  = 1267.5, df  = 3, P  < .001). Lack of dementia knowledge was modulated by different factors. An implemented BI-based treatment for a proposed prevention program improved perception across experts., Discussion: Our findings help to prioritize future potential actions of governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to improve LACs' dementia knowledge., Competing Interests: The authors report no competing interests., (© 2020 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Background: The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), an adaptation of the ACE cognitive screening test, has been demonstrated to have high sensitivity and specificity in detecting cognitive impairment in patients with dementia and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. Although the Spanish-language version of the ACE-III has already been validated in Spain, it is yet to be validated in Latin America. The aim of this study was to validate the ACE-III test in an Argentinean and Chilean population., Methods: ACE-III was administered to 70 patients with Alzheimer disease, 31 patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, and a control group of 139 healthy volunteers. Participants were recruited at centres in both countries., Results: The Spanish-language version of ACE-III was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87). We found significant differences in total ACE-III scores between patients with Alzheimer disease and controls (p< .05) and between patients with Alzheimer disease and bvFTD (p< .05). With a cut-off point of 86, 98.6% of AD patients, 83.9% of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia patients, and 84.2% of controls were correctly classified., Conclusions: This study shows that the Spanish-language version of ACE-III continues to be an effective tool for detecting cognitive dysfunction in patients with dementia., (Copyright © 2017. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.)

Statins, belonging to a well-known drug class used for lowering cholesterol through competitive inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, also have other pleiotropic properties, such as anti-inflammatory action. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of simvastatin in five models of nociceptive behaviour. Oral gavage administration of simvastatin induced a dose-dependent inhibition of nociception for 1 day in the acetic acid writhing (ED(50) = 5.59 ± 0.07), tail-flick (ED(50) = 112.96 ± 8.00), hot-plate (ED(50) = 134.87 ± 2.20), formalin hind paw (ED(50) = 19.86 ± 1.12 in phase I and 23.30 ± 2.05 in phase II) and orofacial formalin (ED(50) = 5.54 ± 2.74 in phase I and 11.48 ± 1.88 in phase II) tests. However, after 3 days, the values were in the acetic acid writhing (ED(50) = 6.14 ± 0.51), tail-flick (ED(50) = 154 ± 8.88), hot-plate (ED(50) = 136.14 ± 2.94), formalin hind paw (ED(50) = 15.93 ± 0.42 in phase I and 17.10 ± 1.80 in phase II) and orofacial formalin (ED(50) = 6.79 ± 0.66 in phase I and 5.80 ± 1.49 in phase II) tests. This study demonstrated the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of simvastatin in five models of tonic or phasic pain. These actions seem to be related to the inhibition of cytokine and prostanoid release and stimulation of nitric oxide synthesis. A possible clinical role of simvastatin could be related to the potentially beneficial effects in the neuropathic pain, and by their pleiotropic properties, they could play a clinical role in anti-inflammatory disease., (© 2011 The Authors. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology © 2011 Nordic Pharmacological Society.)

The reproducibility of movement recordings obtained with the Condylocomp LR 2 was tested on three different types of articulator (Dentatus, SAM 2, Stuart). Additionally, reproducibility of TMJ movement recordings was tested on 18 subjects. Differences of +/- 2 degrees to the real angles, when working carefully, seem to be precise enough. The Condylocomp LR 2 seems to be a useful means for diagnosing and documenting TMJ movements, because it allows dynamic recordings with high resolution and correction of geometric errors.

A scanning electron microscopic study was made of the dentinal surface following preparation with various devices used routinely in the dental practice. The dentine prepared with diamond points showed deep fissured tracks from the individual diamond crystals, even when only slightly magnified. Compared with the untreated dentinal fracture surface, the orifices of the dentine tubules were crushed and obstructed. The surface is smoothed via finishing; the orifices of the dental tubules are no longer present. The picture remained unchanged after washing with H2O2 and cauterization with Ca(OH)2.