Achievements and Publications

2010 Highlights

After the first four years, the Cochran County Aging Study (now expanded to Project FRONTIER) has reached over 600 rural residents in Cochran and Parmer counties, creating a dataset of nearly 2,000 physical and mental health variables per participant.
Dr. Sid O’Bryant, director of research for the F. Marie Hall Institute, and colleagues in the Texas Alzheimer’s Research Consortium published groundbreaking research toward identifying early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. They have identified blood biomarkers that correctly identify 80% of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and accurately exclude 91% of those without the disease. The report was published in the September 2010 issue of the Archives of Neurology.
Project FRONTIER’s first sub-study and intervention research effort – the Cochran County Community-Based Respite Program – was successfully completed in the fall of 2010. As a result of its success, the program will continue under the supervision of the community and serves as an example of how respite can work in rural America.
In 2010, Dr. Sid O’Bryant was designated as a Fellow in the National Academy of Neuropsychology.
A partnership was formed between Project FRONTIER and the Texas Alzheimer’s Research Consortium to begin outreach to and recruitment of rural and urban Mexican-Americans into Alzheimer’s Research.
Project FRONTIER data has been used for a successfully defended dissertation and thesis and multiple Undergraduate Research Fellowships awarded by Texas Tech University.
The Rural Health Research Group has been awarded funding from: Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation, South Plains Foundation, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, National Academy of Neuropsychology, and the Texas Alzheimer’s Research Consortium.

Publications

1. Gong, G, Braddock, E, O’Bryant, SE, Hudson, C, Scott-Fleming, I, Bishara, J, Danner, P, Voyles, D, Yang, H, Patterson, P, & Lefforge, D (2009). Trend analysis of the supply of primary care physicians in rural and urban East, South, and West Texas from 1981 to 2007. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(3):4-8.
2. O’Bryant, S.E., Zhang, Y., Owen, D., Cherry, B., Ramirez, V., Silva, M., Hudson, C., Hobson, V., Grammas, P., Schiffer, R.B., Manning, G., Schrimsher, G.W., Lucas, J.A., Sutker, P.B. for the Cochran County Aging Study Research Team (2009). The Cochran County Aging Study: Methodology and Descriptive Statistics. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 5-7.
3. Ashcraft, A., Owen, D., Braddock, E, Waring, S, & O’Bryant, S.E. (2009). Rural West Texans: Healthcare implications of “living the simple life.” Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 8-12.
4. Zhang, Y., Ashcraft, A., Hobson, V., & O’Bryant, SE (2009). An examination of cardiovascular disease risk factors in a rural-dwelling ethnically diverse cohort. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 13-16.
5. Zhang, Y., Spering, C, Jenkins, M, & O’Bryant, S.E. (2009). An examination of health-related gender differences in a rural-dwelling cohort. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 17-21.
6. Hobson, V., Spering, C., Humphreys, J.D., & O’Bryant, S.E. (in press). An evaluation of the age- and education-adjusted MMSE scores among rural dwelling Mexican American elders: The Cochran County Aging Study. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 22-24.
7. Schrimsher, G, Cohen, L, & O’Bryant, SE. (2009). The relation between alcohol and tobacco use and cognitive functioning in the Cochran County Aging Study. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 25-28.
8. Hargrave, K, Alyce, A., Bishara, J., Hobson, V, Zhang, Y, & O’Bryant, S.E. (2009). A description of migration patterns and disease prevalence in the Cochran County Aging Study cohort. Texas Public Health Journal, 61(1), 29-35.
9. Lynch HT, Snyder CL, Lynch JF, Ghate S, Narod SA, Gong G. Family Information Service Participation Increases the Rates of Mutation Testing among Members of Families with RCA1/2 Mutations. Breast Journal (in press).
10. Johnson, LA, Hobson, V, Jenkins, M, Dentino, A, Ragain, M, & O’Bryant, SE The influence of thyroid function on cognition in a sample of ethnically diverse, rural-dwelling women: A Project FRONTIER study. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (in press).
11. O’Bryant, SE. Hall, JR, Cukrowizc, K, Edwards, M, Johnson, LA, Lefforge, D, Jenkins, M, & Dentino, A. (in press). The differential impact of depressive symptom clusters on cognition in a rural multi-ethnic cohort: A Project FRONTIER Study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
12. O’Bryant, SE, Richardson, D, Perez, C, Nevarez, L, Rice, J, Wilbanks, L, & Hobson, V. (in press). Physical activity is associated with cognitive and affective status among rural-dwelling Texans: A Project FRONTIER study. Texas Public Health Journal.
13. O’Bryant, SE, Falkowski, J, Hobson, V, Johnson, L, Hall, J, Schrimsher, GW, Win, O, Ngo, B, & Dentino (in press). Executive functioning mediates the link between other neuropsychological domains and daily functioning: A Project FRONTIER Study. International Psychogeriatrics.
14. Hobson VL, Hall JR, Harvey M, Cullum CM, Lacritz L, Massman PJ, Waring SC, O’Bryant SE (2010). An examination of the Boston Naming Test: calculation of “estimated” 60-item score from 30- and 15-item scores in a cognitively impaired population. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry (in press)
15. Gong G, and O’Bryant SE (2010). The Arsenic Exposure Hypothesis for Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 24:311–316
16. O’Bryant SE, Waring SC, Hobson V, Hall JR, Moore CB, Bottiglieri T, Massman P, Diaz-Arrastia R. Decreased C-reactive protein levels in Alzheimer disease. Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2010 Mar;23(1):49-53
17 Hobson VL, Hall JR, Humphreys-Clark JD, Schrimsher GW, O’Bryant SE. Identifying functional impairment with scores from the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS). Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010 May;25(5):525-30.
18. Clark JH, Hobson VL, O’Bryant SE. Diagnostic accuracy of percent retention scores on RBANS verbal memory subtests for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2010 Jun;25(4):318-26
19. O’Bryant SE, Lacritz LH, Hall J, Waring SC, Chan W, Khodr ZG, Massman PJ, Hobson V, Cullum CM. Validation of the new interpretive guidelines for the clinical dementia rating scale sum of boxes score in the national Alzheimer’s coordinating center database. Arch Neurol. 2010 Jun;67(6):746-9.
20. Duff K, Hobson VL, Beglinger LJ, O’Bryant SE. Diagnostic accuracy of the RBANS in mild cognitive impairment: limitations on assessing milder impairments. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2010 Aug;25(5):429-41
21. O’Bryant SE, Xiao G, Barber R, Reisch J, Doody R, Fairchild T, Adams P, Waring S, Diaz-Arrastia R; Texas Alzheimer’s Research Consortium. A serum protein-based algorithm for the detection of Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol. 2010 Sep;67(9):1077-81.
22. O’Bryant SE, Hobson VL, Hall JR, Barber RC, Zhang S, Johnson L, Diaz-Arrastia R. Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels Are Specifically Associated with Memory Performance among Alzheimer’s Disease Cases. Demenr Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2010 Dec 7; 31(1):31-36.
23. Wiechmann A, Hall JR, O’Bryant SE. The utility of the spatial span in a clinical geriatric population. Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2011 Jan;18(1):56-63.

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