Visualizing Alzheimer's disease pathology: Implementation of amyloid PET in clinical practice

Scheltens, P. [Promotor]Lammertsma, A.A. [Promotor]Flier, W.M. van der [Copromotor]Berckel, B.N.M. van [Copromotor

Moeilijk te bereiken? Een kwestie van werving: Effectieve wervingsstrategieën om de vertegenwoordiging van mensen met een laag opleidingsniveau in gezondheidsonderzoek te verhogen

Difficult to reach? A matter of recruitment. Effective recruitment strategies to increase participation of people with a low level of education in health research Recruiting participants with a low level of education for health research is difficult but crucial to reduce health inequalities. To give practical insights on how to improve representation, this study investigates how people with different levels of educational attainment are recruited to register in the Dutch Brain Research Registry Hersenonderzoek.nl (N = 20,705). The recruitment channels studied are social media, traditional media, family and friends, medical professionals, and patient organizations. Our results show that social and traditional media and medical professionals recruit more diverse segments of the population, whereas patient organizations and family and friends mostly recruit highly educated participants. These results imply that, to create diverse samples, we need to utilize recruitment channels that low status groups frequently access and that provide understandable and vivid explanations

Changes in Brain-Health Related Modifiable Risk Factors in Older Adults After One Year of COVID-19-Restrictions

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has major influence on lifestyle and mental health, which might affect brain-health and increase the risk of cognitive decline, particularly in older adults. We aimed to describe changes in modifiable risk factors related to brain-health in older adults after one year of COVID-19 restrictions. Methods: An online survey was disseminated between February and March 2021 to 17,773 registrants of the Dutch Brain Research Registry, aged ≥50, without a self-reported diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Participants were asked to report potential changes in behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic, in eight domains related to brain health: physical activity, sleep, feeling of memory decline, perceived stress, feeling of loneliness, diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking. We used negative binomial regression analyses to relate (socio)demographics, subjective memory complaints and COVID-19 related aspects (fear of, or current/past COVID-19 infection) to the number of reported detrimental and beneficial changes as dependent variable. Results: 3,943 participants (66 ± 8 years old; 76% female; 71% highly educated) completed the survey. After one year of COVID-19-restrictions, 74% reported at least one detrimental lifestyle change unfavorable for their brain health, most frequently reported were feelings of loneliness, sleep problems, and less physical activity. 60% of participants reported at least one beneficial change, which were most often more physical activity, healthier dietary habits, and less alcohol consumption. Individuals who are younger [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.98–0.99], female (1.20, 1.11–1.30), living alone (1.20, 1.11–1.28) and in urban environments (1.18, 1.08–1.29), who are less satisfied with their income (1.38, 1.17–1.62), experiencing subjective memory complaints (1.40, 1.28–1.52) and those with a past or current (1.19, 1.06–1.34) or fear of a COVID-19 infection (1.33, 1.25–1.42) reported higher numbers of detrimental changes. Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced lifestyle in both positive and negative ways. We identified (socio)demographic factors associated with more detrimental changes in modifiable risk factors related to brain health, suggesting that some individuals are more vulnerable for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings provide an opportunity for targeted prevention and education to promote a healthy lifestyle during and after the pandemic

Long-term effects of amyloid, hypometabolism, and atrophy on neuropsychological functions

Objective: To assess how amyloid deposition, glucose hypometabolism, and cerebral atrophy affect neuropsychological performance in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and controls over time. Methods: A total of 41 patients with AD dementia, 28 patients with MCI, and 19 controls underwent

Study design of FINGER-NL: A multidomain lifestyle intervention in Dutch older adults to prevent cognitive decline

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