Fig 1.
Schematic representation of the study variables and study aims (one-directional solid arrows indicating potential unidirectional associations between patients’ risk factors and the cognitive outcome measure as indexed by the CERAD, bidirectional dashed arrows indicating potential interrelations between patients’ functional variables and caregiver load as indexed by the ZBI).
Abbreviations: CERAD = Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease; DAD = Disability Assessment for Dementia (indexing activities of daily living/ADLs); GDS = Geriatric Depression Scale; Pain = Pain scale focusing on pain during activity; NPI = Neuropsychiatric Inventory; ZBI = Zarit Burden Inventory. Notes: Somatic risk factors were recorded at baseline only (T1), while cognitive functioning (indexed by CERAD), functional non-cognitive risk factors and caregiver load were examined at all four assessment points (i.e., from T1 to the last follow-up two years after baseline/T4).
Table 1.
Patient and caregiver characteristics as well as patients’ MMSE scores (as a proxy for cognitive functioning/deterioration).
Table 2.
Somatic risk variables for the development of dementia.
Reported are the number of cases with a specific somatic diagnosis (n reported/n not reported).
Table 3.
Comparison of patients who completed the study until the two-year follow-up visit (T1 to T4) and patients who dropped out after baseline (no follow-up visit).
Table 4.
Results from linear mixed models reflecting linear development across time of the cognitive outcome measure (CERAD), patients’ functional variables (DAD, GDS, PAIN, NPI) and caregiver load (ZBI).
Values in squared brackets indicating 95% confidence intervals.
Table 5.
Pattern of correlation strengths between functional variables, separately reported for the four time points.
Table 6.
Optimal model (as disclosed by stepwise regression analyses) to predict cognitive functioning at the last follow-up (T4) upon using patients’ variables at baseline (T1).
Table 7.
Linear mixed model depicting the relationships between patient’s functional variables and cognitive functioning across time.
Fig 2.
Schematic representation of the results of the regression analyses.
(A) Upper panel showing the findings of the stepwise regression investigating the predictive value of all patient variables at T1 (demographic, somatic and functional) on cognitive functioning at T4. (B) Lower panel showing the findings of the linear mixed model investigating the relationship between demographic and functional patient variables on cognitive functioning across all four time points. Abbreviations: CERAD = Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease; DAD = Disability Assessment for Dementia (indexing activities of daily living/ADLs); GDS = Geriatric Depression Scale.