Home › Research › Cognitive tests and assessment
Cognitive Performance in Spouses of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Controlled Cross-Sectional Study
Elbeyli AB, Tak AZA.. Research Square, 2026-08-25
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
We compared global and domain-level cognitive performance in older adults without a prior dementia diagnosis based on whether their cohabiting spouse had Alzheimer’s disease. This controlled cross-sectional study included 350 adults aged 65–85 years: 150 spouses of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and 200 comparison spouses. Cognition was assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination and Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive Subscale. Analyses used Mann–Whitney U and chi-square tests, false-discovery-rate correction, and HC3-robust multivariable linear regression. Alzheimer-spouse participants reported more partner-support time (4.16 ± 2.50 vs. 2.50 ± 1.70 h; p < 0.001), higher ADAS-Cog scores (10.91 ± 3.63 vs. 9.07 ± 3.14; p < 0.001), and lower MMSE scores (24.94 ± 1.92 vs. 25.92 ± 1.72; p < 0.001). Differences remained in word-finding difficulty, constructional praxis, naming, ideational praxis, and following commands after correction, but not memory or orientation. Adjusted group effects were 1.90 points for ADAS-Cog and − 1.05 points for MMSE. Support time was unrelated to either score in the Alzheimer-spouse group. These findings indicate modestly lower cognitive performance, particularly in word-finding and praxis-related tasks, but do not establish cognitive decline, causality, or Alzheimer’s disease in spouses.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Elbeyli, A. B., & Tak, A. Z. A. (2026). Cognitive Performance in Spouses of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Controlled Cross-Sectional Study. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10589896/v1
Vancouver
Elbeyli AB, Tak AZA. Cognitive Performance in Spouses of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Controlled Cross-Sectional Study. Research Square. 2026. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10589896/v1.
BibTeX
@article{elbeyli2026-696e30ac,
author = {Elbeyli, A. B. and Tak, A. Z. A.},
title = {{Cognitive Performance in Spouses of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Controlled Cross-Sectional Study}},
journal = {Research Square},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-10589896/v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10589896/v1}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- These findings indicate modestly lower cognitive performance, particularly in word-finding and praxis-related tasks, but do not establish cognitive decline, causality, or Alzheimer’s disease in spouses.
Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants350
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 35 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 35 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Research Square) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 350 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 22 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 35 out of 100. |
| Total | 35 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Cognitive tests and assessment
Also tagged “reserve”
208 studies in the library carry the topic tag “reserve”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 208 tagged studies.