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66/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 66 out of 100. Tau biomarkers

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Background and objectives Plasma phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 (p-tau181), a well-validated marker of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathologic change, could be a more efficient way to diagnose AD than invasive or expensive biomarkers requiring CSF or PET. In some individuals, neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are the earliest manifestation of AD, observed in advance of clear cognitive decline. However, the few studies assessing AD biomarkers in association with NPS have often had imprecision in capturing behavioral symptoms that represent sequelae of neurodegenerative disease.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Moderate

This is a cross-sectional study of 571 participants. This cross-sectional study examined whether plasma p-tau181 is associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms in preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer's disease. Reported effect size: 46.8%; 64.8%; 8.1%.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Ghahremani, M., Wang, M., Chen, H. Y., Zetterberg, H., Smith, E., Ismail, Z., et al. (2023). Plasma Phosphorylated Tau at Threonine 181 and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer Disease. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000201517

Vancouver

Ghahremani M, Wang M, Chen HY, Zetterberg H, Smith E, Ismail Z, et al. Plasma Phosphorylated Tau at Threonine 181 and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer Disease. Neurology. 2023. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000201517. PMID: 36323521.

BibTeX

@article{ghahremani2023-36323521,
  author  = {Ghahremani, M. and Wang, M. and Chen, H. Y. and Zetterberg, H. and Smith, E. and Ismail, Z. and {Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative*}},
  title   = {{Plasma Phosphorylated Tau at Threonine 181 and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer Disease}},
  journal = {Neurology},
  year    = {2023},
  doi     = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000201517},
  pmid    = {36323521},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000201517}
}

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 names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a cross-sectional study. Everyone is measured once, so it cannot show which came first. Read it as a snapshot of how two things go together at one moment.
Size: the record lists 571 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record reports “46.8%; 64.8%; 8.1%”. A statistically significant result can still be small in daily life.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded moderate. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Moderate means the abstract mentions a cohort, case-control or longitudinal design. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

In some individuals, neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are the earliest manifestation of AD, observed in advance of clear cognitive decline.
However, the few studies assessing AD biomarkers in association with NPS have often had imprecision in capturing behavioral symptoms that represent sequelae of neurodegenerative disease.
Thus, the mild behavioral impairment (MBI) construct was developed, framing NPS in a way to improve the precision of risk estimates for disease.
MBI core criteria stipulate that NPS emerge de novo in later life and persist for at least 6 months.

Why it matters

This cross-sectional study examined whether plasma p-tau181 is associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms in preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer's disease. It is an observational biomarker study and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →

Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants571
Effect size46.8%; 64.8%; 8.1%
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 66/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 63 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 66 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
Strength of evidence	3 / 5	Rated “moderate” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	3 / 5	2023 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	571 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
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	4 / 7	Cited 75 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	15.0 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 9.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 7 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 56 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	3 / 3	OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 3 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 36323521)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	63 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 63 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 66 out of 100.
Total	66 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

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