We evaluated SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) seroconversion and seroreversion rates, risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion, and COVID-19 risk perceptions among academic healthcare center employees in a rural state.

Among employees aged ≥18 years who completed a screening survey (n = 1,377), we invited all respondents reporting previous COVID-19 (n = 85; 82 accepted) and a random selection of respondents not reporting previous COVID-19 (n = 370; 220 accepted) to participate. Participants completed surveys and provided blood samples at 3-month intervals (T0, T3, T6, T9). We used logistic regression to identify risk factors for seropositivity at T0.

The cohort was primarily direct patient caregivers (205/302; 67.9%), white (278/302; 92.1%), and female (212/302; 70.2%). At T0, 86/302 (28.4%) participants were seropositive. Of the seronegative participants, 6/198 (3.0%), 6/183 (3.3%), and 14/180 (7.8%) had seroconverted at T3, T6, and T9, respectively. The overall seroreversion rate was 6.98% at T9. At T0, nursing staff (odds ratio [OR], 2.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08, 5.19) and being within six feet of a non-household member outside of work (OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.02, 8.33) had significantly higher odds of seropositivity. Vaccination (OR, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.02, 0.12) and face mask use (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.17, 0.78) were protective.

The seroconversion and seroreversion rates were low among participants. Public health and infection prevention measures implemented early in the COVID-19 pandemic – vaccination, face mask use, and social distancing – were associated with significantly lower odds of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among participants.

Individuals tend to overestimate their abilities in areas where they are less competent. This cognitive bias is known as the Dunning-Krueger effect. Research shows that Dunning-Krueger effect occurs in persons with traumatic brain injury and healthy comparison participants. It was suggested by Walker and colleagues (2017) that the deficits in cognitive awareness may be due to brain injury. Confrontational naming tasks (e.g., Boston Naming Test) are used to evaluate language abilities. The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item confrontational naming task developed to be administered in multiple languages. Hardy and Wright (2018) conditionally validated a measure of perceived mental workload called the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). They found that workload ratings on the NASA-TLX increased with increased task demands on a cognitive task. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the Dunning-Kruger effect occurs in a Latinx population and possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the CNT. We predicted the low-performance group would report better CNT performance, but underperform on the CNT compared to the high-performance group.

The sample consisted of 129 Latinx participants with a mean age of 21.07 (SD = 4.57). Participants were neurologically and psychologically healthy. Our sample was divided into two groups: the low-performance group and the high-performance group. Participants completed the CNT and the NASA-TLX in English. The NASA-TLX examines perceived workload (e.g., performance) and it was used in the present study to evaluate possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the CNT. Participants completed the NASA-TLX after completing the CNT. Moreover, the CNT raw scores were averaged to create the following two groups: low-performance (CNT raw score <17) and high-performance (CNT raw score 18+). A series of ANCOVA's, controlling for gender and years of education completed were used to evaluate CNT performance and CNT perceived workloads.

We found the low-performance group reported better performance on the CNT compared to the high-performance, p = .021, np2 = .04. However, the high-performance group outperformed the low-performance group on the CNT, p = .000, np2 = .53. Additionally, results revealed the low-performance group reported higher temporal demand and effort levels on the CNT compared to the high-performance group, p's < .05, nps2 = .05.

As we predicted, the low-performance group overestimated their CNT performance compared to the high-performance group. The current data suggest that the Dunning-Kruger effect occurs in healthy Latinx participants. We also found that temporal demand and effort may be influencing awareness in the low-performance group CNT performance compared to the high-performance group. The present study suggests subjective features on what may be influencing confrontational naming task performance in low-performance individuals more than highperformance individuals on the CNT. Current literature shows that bilingual speakers underperformed on confrontational naming tasks compared to monolingual speakers. Future studies should investigate if the Dunning-Kruger effects Latinx English monolingual speakers compared to Spanish-English bilingual speakers on the CNT.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) can be observed in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Hallucinations are a core clinical symptom of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). In this study, we investigated NPS in healthy control and MCI groups who would later be diagnosed with DLB to determine which symptoms would present early.

Participants included those originally diagnosed as healthy controls (n=55), MCI with DLB etiology (n=215), and DLB (n=1059). The control and MCI groups progressed to DLB at later visits in the study. NPS data were collected using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) that was obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.

To determine which NPS presented early in the DLB course, we ran ANCOVAs to assess the role of original diagnosis on each NPS, using age as a covariate and applying Bonferroni correction. The control and MCI groups, who were later diagnosed with DLB, had greater severity of delusions, hallucinations, agitation, and apathy than the DLB group. The MCI group that would later be diagnosed with DLB had greater severity of anxiety and motor symptoms than the DLB group. The control group had greater irritability severity than the DLB group, and the controls had greater nighttime behavior severity than the MCI group, who had greater severity than the DLB group.

Overall, we found that NPS present early in those who will be diagnosed with DLB, even when they are diagnosed as healthy controls. These results suggest that examination of NPS is important even in healthy adults, and their presence may be the onset of the DLB process before an official diagnosis of the condition.

Workload is a useful construct in human factors and neuroergonomics research that describes “the perceived relationship between the amount of mental [and physical] processing capability or resources and the amount required by the task”. We apply this concept to neuropsychology and assess several dimensions of workload as it relates to performance on the Trail Making Test.

Twenty college students completed the Trail Making Test (TMT). After completion of each Part A and B, workload was assessed with the NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), a popular self-report measure of workload including subscales: Mental Demand, Physical Demand, Temporal Demand, Performance, Effort, and Frustration, with an overall average total score as well.

Completion time differed of course between Parts A and B (p < .001). Of more interest, overall workload differed between TMT A (M = 20.33, SD = 13.32) and TMT B (M = 35.79, SD = 17.37) (p < .001, h2 = .68). The greatest subscale differences were with Mental Demand (p < .001, h2 = .68) and Effort (p < .001, h2 = .59), but Physical Demand also showed a difference (p < .007, h2 = .33). Temporal Demand showed the smallest and nonsignificant difference (p = .081, h2 = .152).

Based on previous research in our lab, most results were expected and understandable. As we know with the TMT, Part B is more cognitively demanding (in various ways) than Part A. The greater Physical Demand with Part B is a somewhat more complex finding, needing a solid explanation. Finally, the NASA-TLX appears to be a valid instrument of workload with a standard neuropsychologist test. We argue it can provide useful interesting information in the assessment of cognitive status in clinical populations.

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to execute a planned action in the future (e.g., remembering to take medication before going to bed). Prior work has suggested that PM failure can account for 50-80% of reported memory problems. Research has also shown that PM becomes increasingly impaired in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) process. To our knowledge, most PM studies use PM accuracy as a measure of PM performance. However, examining the speed of the response as it relates to the AD process remains relatively unexplored. In this study, we examined both PM accuracy and speed in healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD.

Participants included healthy older controls (N=65), persons with MCI (N=70), and persons with AD (N=11). The PM task was embedded within a working memory task as PM demands often occur during an ongoing activity in everyday life. For the working memory component of the PM task, participants were shown a series of words and asked to continuously monitor the words while maintaining the last 3 in memory. All words were displayed within 1 of 6 background patterns. For the PM component, participants were asked to press "1" on the keyboard whenever they were shown a particular background pattern on the screen. PM abilities were measured using the median response time and total accuracy.

Age was correlated with PM accuracy. An ANCOVA, controlling for age, and examining the impact of diagnosis on PM accuracy, was significant. Post-hoc tests revealed a trend toward the AD and MCI groups being less accurate than healthy controls. In contrast to accuracy, age was not related to PM speed. An ANOVA examining the impact of diagnosis on PM accuracy found that the AD group responded faster than healthy controls. The MCI group did not show differences in speed from the healthy control and AD groups.

Overall, the pattern of results differed in accuracy and speed of PM performance. There was a trend for the MCI and AD groups being less accurate than the controls, with no difference in performance between the MCI and AD groups. However, the AD group responded more quickly than the controls, which may have impacted their accuracy. These findings indicate that PM performance differences among groups can be detected by examining speed and not just accuracy. As speed appears to be an essential aspect involved in PM performance, future research should consider incorporating speed as a measure of PM performance when examining PM differences in populations.

Performance validity tests (PVTs) are included in neuropsychological testing to ensure examinees are performing to the best of their abilities. There are two types of PVTs: embedded and free standing. Embedded PVTs are tests that are derived from standard neuropsychological tests of various cognitive domains. Freestanding PVTs are tests that are designed with the intention of being a PVT. Research studies show that undergraduate samples do not always performed to the best of their abilities. The purpose of this study was to cross-validate previous research on the topic of performance validity in a college sample. It was predicted that the non-credible group would demonstrate higher failure rates on embedded PVTs compared to the credible group.

The sample consisted of 198 neurologically and psychologically healthy undergraduate students with a mean age of 19.69 (SD = 2.11). Participants were broken into two groups: non-credible (i.e., participants that failed two or more PVTs) and credible (i.e., participants that did not failed two or more PVTs). The Rey-Osterrith copy test, Comalli Stroop part A (CSA), B (CSB), and C (CSC), Trail Making Test part A and B, Symbol Digit Modalities Test written (SDMT-W) and oral (SDMT-O) parts, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) letter fluency, and Finger Tapping Test were used to evaluate failure rates in our sample. PVT cutoff scores were use from previously validated in the literature. Chi-square analysis was used to evaluate failure rates between the groups.

Chi-square analysis revealed significant failure rate differences between groups on several PVTs. Results revealed that 15% of the non-credible group failed the CSA compared to 1% of the credible group, X2=14.77, p=.000. Meanwhile, 26% of the non-credible group failed the CSB compared to 2% of the credible group, X2=24.72, p=.000. Furthermore, results showed that 11% of the non-credible group failed the CSC compared to 1% of the credible group, X2=13.05, p=.000.Next, 48% of the non-credible group failed the Trail Making Test part A compared to 8% of the credible group, X2=31.61, p=.000. We also found that 15% of the non-credible group failed the SDMT-W part compared to 1% of the credible group,X2=19.18, p=.000. Meanwhile, on the SDMT-O part 19% of the non-credible group failed compared to 1% of the credible group, X2=25.52, p =.000. On the COWAT letter fluency task 74% of the non-credible group failed compared to 19% of the credible group, X2=36.90, p=.000. Finally, results revealed on the Finger Tapping Test 19% of the non-credible group failed compared to 3% of the credible group, X2=10.01, p=.002.

As expected, the non-credible participants demonstrated significantly higher PVT failure rates compared to credible participants. A possible explanation driving higher failure rates in our sample can be due to cultural variables (e.g., bilingualism). It was suggested by researchers that linguistic factors may be impacting higher PVT failure rates and developing a false-positive error. Future research using undergraduate samples need to identify which PVT’s are being impacted by linguist factors.

Feeding difficulties after congenital heart surgery are a common concern for caregivers of children with CHD. Insight into the intricacies of their experience is lacking. With a better understanding, healthcare providers can continue to optimize the approach and support mechanisms for these families. This study will explore the psychosocial impacts on caregivers, define barriers to care, and identify areas to improve their care.

This mixed-methods study combined semi-structured interviews with surveys. Purposive sampling targeted caregivers of a child who underwent heart surgery and was discharged with alternative enteral feeding access. A hybrid inductive-deductive methodology was used to analyse interview transcripts. Survey scores were compared to interview content for concordance.

Fifteen interviews were conducted with socio-demographically diverse caregivers. Feeding difficulties were often identified as their greatest challenge, with the laborious feeding schedule, sleep deprivation, and tube management being common contributors. Most caregivers described feeling overwhelmed and worried. Time-intensive feeding schedules and lack of appropriate childcare options precluded caregivers’ ability to work. Barriers to care included imperfect feeding education, proximity of specialist clinics, and issues with medical supply companies. Caregiver proposals for improved care addressed easing the transition home, improving emotional support mechanisms, and intensifying feeding therapy for expedited tube removal.

This study describes the psychosocial toll on the caregiver, typical barriers to care, and ideas for improved provision of care. These themes and ideas can be used to advance the family-centered approach to feeding difficulties after heart surgery.