Cognitive impairment and carotid atherosclerosis in a general Italian midlife and old population.
The authors describe the design and the general, ultrasonographic, neuropsychological methodology of an observational epidemiological population survey, named REMEMBER (Registry Evaluation Memory in Buttrio e Remanzacco) conducted in the northeast of Italy in a randomized stratified sample of 1,026 subjects (554 F and 472 M) aged 55-98 years. The study was planned as cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of cognitive impairment, cardiovascular risk factors, carotid atherosclerosis in a midlife and older Italian population sample. The objectives of the first phase are to assess the prevalence of the different types of dementia, the cognitive impairment non-dementia, the cardiovascular risk factors, the carotid intima-media thickness and arterial distensibility, and of depression. The conclusions of this study will make it possible to organize preventive and interventional strategies for these epidemic conditions.
Prati
P
P
Department of Neurology, Gervasutta Hospital, Udine, Italy. patrizio.prati@tin.it
Casaroli
M
M
Bignamini
A
A
Scotti
S
S
Canciani
L
L
Ruscio
M
M
Balestrieri
M
M
Bornstein
N
N
Zanetti
O
O
Tosetto
A
A
Castellani
S
S
Pantoni
L
L
Touboul
P J
PJ
Inzitari
D
D
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014463:Ultrasonography