Loneliness, Depression, and Anxiety Experienced by the Israeli Population During the First COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-sectional Survey

INTRODUCTION The presence of loneliness, depression, and anxiety is known to be associated with increased overall morbidity.1,2 These conditions may occur as individual syndromes or in combination. There is a clear need to recognize these conditions when they occur and to provide patients with appropriate care and support. From a public health perspective, it is important to evaluate both the prevalence and the epidemiological risk factors associated with these syndromes. For example, approximately 50% of mental health disorders have been shown to begin during the mid-teenage years.3 As such, mental health screening should specifically target the younger population since, while these disorders frequently manifest early on in adolescence, intervention and treatment are not usually initiated until years later.4 At times of stress and crisis, mental health disorders in younger individuals are often more pronounced. This may reflect an exacerbation of pre-existing depression or anxiety, may manifest the transformation of a preclinical mental disorder into a symptomatic one, or may represent a risk factor for the development of a mental health condition de novo

Validity of a novel computerized cognitive battery for mild cognitive impairment

BACKGROUND: The NeuroTrax Mindstreams computerized cognitive assessment system was designed for widespread clinical and research use in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the capability of Mindstreams tests to discriminate elderly with MCI from those who are cognitively healthy has yet to be evaluated. Moreover, the comparability between these tests and traditional neuropsychological tests in detecting MCI has not been examined. METHODS: A 2-center study was designed to assess discriminant validity of tests in the Mindstreams Mild Impairment Battery. Participants were 30 individuals diagnosed with MCI, 29 with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 39 healthy elderly. Testing was with the Mindstreams battery and traditional neuropsychological tests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to examine the ability of Mindstreams and traditional measures to discriminate those with MCI from cognitively healthy elderly. Between-group comparisons were made (Mann-Whitney U test) between MCI and healthy elderly and between MCI and mild AD groups. RESULTS: Mindstreams outcome parameters across multiple cognitive domains significantly discriminated among MCI and healthy elderly with considerable effect sizes (p < 0.05). Measures of memory, executive function, visual spatial skills, and verbal fluency discriminated best, and discriminability was at least comparable to that of traditional neuropsychological tests in these domains. CONCLUSIONS: Mindstreams tests are effective in detecting MCI, providing a comprehensive profile of cognitive function. Further, the enhanced precision and ease of use of these computerized tests make the NeuroTrax system a valuable clinical tool in the identification of elderly at high risk for dementia