Surface electromyography in patients with tension-type headache and normal healthy subjects.

Headache is one of the most common medical symptoms and tension - type headache is the most common form. Pericranial muscles have been invoked as a source of nociception among patients with tension - type headache. This study was performed to determine surface electromyography (EMG) as representative of the electrical activity of pericranial muscles in tension - type headache and normal subjects during rest and mental calculation. Surface EMG recordings were performed in 20 normal subjects (age 33.9 +/- 8.9 years) and 20 tension-type headache patients (34.5 +/- 9.4 years) using electroencephalograph during the initial rest period for 5 minutes, during mental calculation for 2 minutes and 3 minutes of the rest period. Surface EMG was scored as discharge score (DS) at the third, sixth and ninth minute. The DS at each minute studied showed that the headache group had higher electrical activity than the normal group and increased EMG activity during mental stress was found in the headache group.

The IQCODE: an alternative screening test for dementia for low educated Thai elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To explore an alternative method of screening for dementia in Thai elderly people who have a low educational level. The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the elderly (IQCODE) is used as the screening test. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A community based population of elderly subjects in Bangkok including 87 normal subjects and 73 demented elderly people were studied. Their ages ranged from 52 to 85 years old. The majority of the elderly people had had four years or less of primary-education. Dementia was diagnosed independently by DSM IV criteria. A short form of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE), a short form, was administered to informants of the elderly by trained medical personnel. The Thai Mini Mental State Examination (TMSE) was also administered to these subjects and compared with the IQCODE. SPSS 9.0 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The IQCODE showed a negative correlation with the TMSE (n=160, r=-0.679, p<0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of the IQCODE was larger than that of TMSE (0.928 vs 0.814). On logistic regression analysis, there were only three questions that contributed to the diagnosis that showed statistical significance. These questions are remembering what day and month it is, learning how to use a new gadget and handling other everyday arithmetic problems. Applying the new formula (z-score), these three questions showed a sensitivity of 84.90 per cent, and a specificity of 92 per cent for the diagnosis of dementia. CONCLUSION: Informants' perceptions of cognitive impairment of the elderly can be reliably applied as a screening instrument for dementia in the Thai population with a variety of educational levels. A short form of the IQCODE using selected questions can be administered with good diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.

Risk factors for dementia and impaired cognitive status in Thai elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of physical and biochemical risk factors for dementia and cognitive status in an urban population based Thai elderly. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This study was part of an integrated health research project from 1997 to 1999. Subjects were 550 elders who lived in a community within 10 km from Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. They were 55 years and older. Thai mental state examination (TMSE) was applied to all subjects as the screening test for dementia. Those who scored less than or equal to 24 out of 30 were categorised as having cognitive impairment or suspected of having dementia, and they were then examined in detail for the diagnosis of dementia using the DSM IV criteria. Blood pressure and body weight were recorded. Blood was drawn for biochemical and haematological analysis including the serology for syphilis and thyroid function test as the basic screening investigation for dementia. Descriptive data, expressed as the mean, standard deviation, Pearson Chi square and ANOVA tests were analysed with SPSS 9.0 in the study. RESULTS: Of 550 subjects, 261 (47.45%) were classified as the normal subjects group, 49 (8.91%) as the cognitively impaired group, and 240 (43.82%) as the dementia group. 377 subjects (68.55%) were female and the distribution of females in each subgroup ranged from 63.3-75.5 per cent. The mean age in the normal group was 67.47 +/- 6.05 years, the cognitively impaired group was 70.14 years and the dementia group was 69.63 +/- 9.21 years. Systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP, serum cholesterol, SGOT, GGT, serum albumin, haemoglobin, MCHC, neutrophil counts and weight were statistically significant factors that were associated with cognitive status. Both systolic and diastolic BP were high in the higher cognitive status group. Serum albumin, serum cholesterol levels and body weight were also higher in the high cognitive status group. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated an association between nutritional status and cognitive status in Thai elderly. Poorer nutritional factor in lower cognitive function individuals might explain a lower of both systolic and diastolic BP in the dementia subjects compared to the healthy subjects.

Cognitive status in the community dwelling Thai elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To survey the prevalence of cognitive impairment in the elderly and to estimate the prevalence of dementia in the community dwelling Thai population. To assess the psychometric property of Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE). MATERIAL AND METHOD: We conducted a countrywide survey of 3,177 Thai elderly who were 60 years old and over from 1995 to 1997. Medical history and ability to carry out daily activities were taken by trained medical personnel. Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE) was used for cognitive study. Every elderly person involved in this study was examined by either an internist or a neurologist. Blood was taken for haematological and biochemical analysis. SPSS 6.0 was the main statistical analysis of the data. RESULTS: Three thousand one hundred and seventy seven elderly people were enrolled in this study, thirty eight point eight per cent were male and sixty one point two per cent were female. There was correlation between age, education and TMSE (r=-0.345, r=0.473, p<0.001). We found no correlation between TMSE, mean arterial blood pressure (BP), systolic BP, diastolic BP, haematocrit, cholesterol, triglyceride, blood sugar and syphilitic serology. Multiple cut off points of TMSE was proposed to utilise the twenty fifth percentile in each five yearly age interval. Those who were under the 25th percentile of TMSE and had impaired daily activities were diagnosed as dementia. The prevalence of dementia was 9.88 percentiles in our study. CONCLUSION: Dementia is a common problem in the Thai elderly. As treatment has become available for several etiologies of dementia, early detection and assessment of dementia with a cognitive screening test are essential. Public education to distinguish between dementia and old age needs to be emphasised.

Experience of ApoE study in Thai elderly.

The association between ApoE E4 and dementia is reported in Alzheimer's disease and other dementia such as in multi-infarct dementia. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between apolipoprotein E genotype (ApoE) and dementia in Thai elderly and patients to examine the alleles frequencies of ApoE in a Thai population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Seventy-eight cases and ninety-four controls from a community based population were recruited. Their ages were all over 50 years. Dementia was diagnosed by DSM IV criteria. Blood was taken and stored for DNA extraction and for restriction enzyme analysis of ApoE genotype. Descriptive analysis and odds ratios from SPSS 9.0 program were used in this study. RESULTS: Alleles frequencies of ApoE E2, E, E4 in normal controls were 0.03, 0.80, 0.17 and alleles frequencies of ApoE E3, E4 in dementia subjects were 0.71 and 0.29, respectively. Odds ratios for dementia risk of apolipoprotein genes were as follows: 0.62 for ApoE E3 and 1.98 for ApoE E4. In this study, forty-two dementia subjects had Alzheimer's disease. Fifty nine point five per cent of Alzheimer's disease subjects carried ApoE E4 (positive predictive value is 0.60). CONCLUSION: Thai elderly carry ApoE genotype distribution similar to that reported in other ethnic groups. Bearing ApoE E4 gene increases the risk of developing dementia. The use of ApoE genotyping can only be a diagnostic adjunct for Alzheimer's disease.

Epidemiology of stroke in the elderly in Thailand.

Epidemiology of stroke in the elderly in Thailand was conducted from August 1994 to October 1996. The total of 3,036 Thai elderly were included in this study. They represented the elderly population from four regions; Central Region (615 elderly, Nakhon Pathom Province), Northern Region (840 elderly, Lampang Province), North-Eastern Region (706 elderly, Sakon Nakhon Province), and Southern Region (857 elderly, Ranong Province). All elderly in these selected areas received general physical examinations and complete neurological examinations from neurologists. Demographic data concerning each individual was recorded by specially trained nurses. Data included age, sex, occupation, education, drug usage, alcohol, smoking and pre-existing diseases. Blood was taken from each subject for complete blood count, fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and VDRL. Data on physical examinations were recorded with particular attention to blood pressure, carotid bruit, cardiac murmurs, cardiac arrhythmia, speech, posture, gait, frontal lobe releasing signs, Babinski sign and focal neurological deficit. Thirty-four stroke patients were identified from 3,036 elderly (prevalence rate of 1.12 per cent). There were 12 stroke patients from Central Region (prevalence rate of 1.99 per cent), 5 from Northern Region (0.6 per cent), 4 from North-Eastern Region (0.6 per cent) and 13 from Southern Region (1.5 per cent). Hypertension was the main risk factor for stroke in this study whereas diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol consumption, hyperlipidemia and underlying heart diseases were insignificant risk factors. The prevalence of hypertension in Thai elderly was ranging from 16.7 to 47.2 per cent (criteria over 140/90 mmHg) or 6.1 to 24.8 per cent (criteria over 160/90 mmHg). Prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption in Thai elderly ranged from 19.5 per cent (Sakon Nakhon) to 62.1 (Lampang) and 16.75 per cent (Nakhon Pathom) to 33.70 per cent (Lampang) respectively. Data from physical examinations revealed that dysarthria, hemiplegic gait and Babinski sign were the significant signs for diagnosis of stroke in the community setting. The prevalence of carotid bruit, cardiac murmur and cardiac arrhythmia were ranging from 1.3 to 1.8 per cent, 3.1-7.1 per cent and 0.8-1.4 per cent respectively. From this study, it can be concluded that stroke prevention is the best policy for stroke management. Stroke prevention measures should thus be aimed at the high risk elderly group. This is best achieved by identifying risk factors among them and then controlling these risk factors properly.