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Multidomain lifestyle intervention benefits a large elderly population at risk for cognitive decline and dementia regardless of baseline characteristics: The FINGER trial
Rosenberg A, Ngandu T, Rusanen M, Antikainen R, Bäckman L, Havulinna S, Hänninen T, Laatikainen T et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2017-10-19
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Introduction The 2-year Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) multidomain lifestyle intervention trial (NCT01041989) demonstrated beneficial effects on cognition. We investigated whether sociodemographics, socioeconomic status, baseline cognition, or cardiovascular factors influenced intervention effects on cognition. Methods The FINGER recruited 1260 people from the general Finnish population (60-77 years, at risk for dementia). Participants were randomized 1:1 to multidomain intervention (diet, exercise, cognition, and vascular risk management) and regular health advice. Primary outcome was change in cognition (Neuropsychological Test Battery z-score). Prespecified analyses to investigate whether participants' characteristics modified response to intervention were carried out using mixed-model repeated-measures analyses. Results Sociodemographics (sex, age, and education), socioeconomic status (income), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination), cardiovascular factors (body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose, and overall cardiovascular risk), and cardiovascular comorbidity did not modify response to intervention (P-values for interaction > .05). Conclusions The FINGER intervention was beneficial regardless of participants' characteristics and can thus be implemented in a large elderly population at increased risk for dementia.
Key findings
- Introduction The 2-year Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) multidomain lifestyle intervention trial (NCT01041989) demonstrated beneficial effects on cognition.
- Results Sociodemographics (sex, age, and education), socioeconomic status (income), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination), cardiovascular factors (body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose, and overall cardiovascular risk), and cardiovascular comorbidity did not modify response to intervention (P-values for interaction > .05).
- Conclusions The FINGER intervention was beneficial regardless of participants' characteristics and can thus be implemented in a large elderly population at increased risk for dementia.
Why it matters
This is a follow-up analysis of the FINGER trial, which randomly assigned 1,260 Finnish adults aged 60–77 at risk for dementia to either a 2-year programme of diet, exercise, cognitive training and vascular risk management or regular health advice. Pre-planned tests found that sex, age, education, income, baseline MMSE score, cardiovascular factors and cardiovascular disease did not detectably change how participants' cognitive test scores responded to the programme (all interaction P-values > .05). The authors conclude the programme can be offered to a broad at-risk older population, but the study measured cognitive test scores rather than dementia, and finding no difference between groups does not prove the benefit is equal for everyone.
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Study details
- Participants1,260
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 77/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,260 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) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 421 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 42.1 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 19.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 36 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 169 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Miia Kivipelto: h-index 107 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 14 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29055814) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 77 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.09.006
- PubMed: 29055814
- Original source →
- Free full text: Alzheimer s & Dementia →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Rosenberg, A., Ngandu, T., Rusanen, M., Antikainen, R., Bäckman, L., Havulinna, S., et al. (2018). Multidomain lifestyle intervention benefits a large elderly population at risk for cognitive decline and dementia regardless of baseline characteristics: The FINGER trial. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2017.09.006
Vancouver
Rosenberg A, Ngandu T, Rusanen M, Antikainen R, Bäckman L, Havulinna S, et al. Multidomain lifestyle intervention benefits a large elderly population at risk for cognitive decline and dementia regardless of baseline characteristics: The FINGER trial. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2018. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2017.09.006. PMID: 29055814.
BibTeX
@article{rosenberg2018-29055814,
author = {Rosenberg, A. and Ngandu, T. and Rusanen, M. and Antikainen, R. and Bäckman, L. and Havulinna, S. and Hänninen, T. and Laatikainen, T. and others},
title = {{Multidomain lifestyle intervention benefits a large elderly population at risk for cognitive decline and dementia regardless of baseline characteristics: The FINGER trial}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.jalz.2017.09.006},
pmid = {29055814},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2017.09.006}
}
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