Browsing by Subject "Chronic conditions"

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    Blood‐Based Biomarkers to Aid in Alzheimer’s Disease Prediction or Diagnosis: Analysis in a Multi‐Ethnic Cohort Study
    (Wiley, 2025-01-03) Bahl, Aanya; Honig, Lawrence S.; Kang, Min Suk; Sanchez, Danurys; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Manly, Jennifer J.; Lantigua, Rafael A.; Dage, Jeffrey L.; Brickman, Adam M.; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Mayeux, Richard; Gu, Yian; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Background: Blood‐based biomarkers may aid in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), but their contribution may be confounded by the presence of multiple chronic conditions and have not been well‐tested in community populations. In the current study, we aimed to determine whether blood‐based biomarkers can aid in refining a multi‐ethnic, urban clinically diagnosed AD community‐based cohort. Method: We included 546 individuals in the Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, and Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP) study in this cross‐sectional study. Six biomarkers, including phosphorylated‐tau‐181 (P‐tau181), total (T‐tau), amyloid‐beta 40 and 42 (Aβ40, Aβ42), Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein (GFAP), and Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) were measured using Quanterix SIMOA HD‐X platforms. The association between the biomarkers and AD or cognitive impairment was tested using logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, ethnic group, and years of education. Individuals were subsequently characterized as ‘biomarker positive’ or ‘biomarker negative’ based on combined GFAP and P‐tau181/Aβ42 cut scores. Result: The mean age of individuals was 79.3 years (6.56) and 379 (69.4%) were women, 133 (24.48%), were Non‐Hispanic Black, 153 (28.0%) Non‐Hispanic White, and 248 (45.4%) were Hispanic. A clinical diagnosis of AD was made in 129 (25.49%) individuals. Low Aβ42 (OR = 0.18, [95% CI: 0.04 ‐ 0.92]), low Aβ42/Aβ40 (OR = 0.49, [95% CI: 0.228 ‐ 0.872), and high P‐tau181/Ab42 (OR = 5.494, [95% CI: 1.523 – 20.416]) were associated with a clinical diagnosis of AD suggesting a role as predictive biomarkers. However, the best combination, GFAP and P‐tau181/Aβ42 cut scores, yielded a sensitivity of 41% and specificity of 70.5% for clinically diagnosed AD. The concordance was 54.5% and the discordance was present in both directions. Low education, cardiovascular and other comorbidities might contribute to the discrepancy between biomarker positivity and clinical diagnosis. Conclusion: While GFAP and P‐tau181/Aβ42 levels are associated with AD pathology and can aid in the diagnosis of AD, the presence of multiple chronic conditions may lead to either false positives or negatives. Large multi‐ethnic community cohort studies are needed to further examine the utility of these biomarkers in aiding in the clinical diagnosis of AD.
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    Feasibility of Recruiting People With Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Context of Heart Failure
    (Oxford University Press, 2024-12-31) Jung, Miyeon; Pressler, Susan; Hammers, Dustin; Apostolova, Liana; School of Nursing
    Recruiting people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with another chronic condition such as heart failure (HF) can be arduous. Our investigative group will discuss the challenges encountered while recruiting older adults with both MCI and HF using data from a pilot study testing the efficacy of cognitive interventions to improve cognitive function and the strategies to overcome them. Initially, eligibility criteria included age ≥65 years, HF confirmed by echocardiography, and MCI defined using a 2-step process: (1) Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) ≤23; and (2) diagnostic consensus of MCI based on the presence of cognitive impairment in the absence of functional decline. Enrollment began on 4/3/2023 by screening Cardiology and Neurology clinics patients. Only 12 participants were enrolled over the next 7 months (rate=1.5 participants/month) due to high screen failure rates (59%) owing to MoCA performances above the eligibility threshold and low recruitment rate (5%). To meet recruitment goals (8 participants/month), eligibility criteria were modified by lowering the age cutoff from 65 to 55 years and removing the MoCA screen and the MCI requirements, while adding the requirement of subjective cognitive concern allowing both those with normal cognition and MCI but not dementia. Phone recruitment was added by screening electronic health records of people who diagnosed with HF. 7 months after implementing the modifications, additional 58 participants were consented exceeding our recruitment goals (69% of those consented=MCI, 26%=normal cognition, 5%=dementia/excluded from the study). In conclusion, feasibility of our original strategies recruiting older adults with both MCI and HF was not supported.