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HARMONISATION - A multimodal prospective study of vascular cognitive impairment in multi-ethnic Asians: Cohort profile, progress, current contributions, and future impact
Lim MJ, Cheung CY, Chong JR, Chua J, Hilal S, Lai MK, Maier AB, Schmetterer L et al.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2025-10-29
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) describes cerebrovascular disease (CeVD)-associated cognitive disorders regardless of pathogenesis, ranging from a prodrome to dementia. Heterogeneity in the etiology and severity of CeVD, and significant co-occurrence with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology has hampered investigations. Research into VCI is especially relevant in Asia, where cognitive impairment and dementia, often due to VCI, grows due to rapidly aging populations and high prevalence of vascular risk factors. This manuscript reviewed the rationale, unique positioning, design, methodology, and findings from the HARMONISATION study, a prospective observational study of VCI and AD in multi-ethnic Asians. HARMONISATION aimed to discover and validate novel biomarkers as effective diagnostic and prognostic tools, and translate findings into improved patient care, disease management and treatment-utilizing comprehensive multimodal clinical, neuroimaging, retinal, and blood biomarker data to address critical research gaps such as the etiology and clinical importance of mixed dementia, relationships between AD and CeVD pathology, and challenges of heterogenous CeVD pathology. HARMONIZATION recruited and deeply phenotyped 700 older multi-ethnic Asians with no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia for up to 5 years of follow-up. It has yielded developments in biomarker identification, validation, interactions and analysis methods; disease mechanisms and progression; clinical prognostics for VCI and AD; improved patient care and management; and enabled future development of novel interventions in Asians, and globally. An ongoing extension study will allow up to 10 years follow-up to further explore specific modifiable processes of VCI and the contributions of vascular events to cognitive impairment.
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APA 7th
Lim, M. J., Cheung, C. Y., Chong, JR., Chua, J., Hilal, S., Lai, M. K., et al. (2025). HARMONISATION - A multimodal prospective study of vascular cognitive impairment in multi-ethnic Asians: Cohort profile, progress, current contributions, and future impact. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251389006
Vancouver
Lim MJ, Cheung CY, Chong JR, Chua J, Hilal S, Lai MK, et al. HARMONISATION - A multimodal prospective study of vascular cognitive impairment in multi-ethnic Asians: Cohort profile, progress, current contributions, and future impact. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2025. doi:10.1177/13872877251389006. PMID: 41160443.
BibTeX
@article{lim2025-41160443,
author = {Lim, M. J. and Cheung, C. Y. and Chong, JR. and Chua, J. and Hilal, S. and Lai, M. K. and Maier, A. B. and Schmetterer, L. and others},
title = {{HARMONISATION - A multimodal prospective study of vascular cognitive impairment in multi-ethnic Asians: Cohort profile, progress, current contributions, and future impact}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1177/13872877251389006},
pmid = {41160443},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251389006}
}
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Key findings
- Heterogeneity in the etiology and severity of CeVD, and significant co-occurrence with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology has hampered investigations.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, 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 multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 24 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 41 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation 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 |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41160443) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 24 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 41 out of 100. |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
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