Home › Research › Getting a diagnosis
Preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Definition, natural history, and diagnostic criteria
Bruno Dubois, Harald Juergen Hampel, Howard Feldman, Philip Scheltens, Paul S. S. Aisen, Sandrine Andrieu, Hovagim Bakardjian, Habib Benali, Lars Bertram, Kaj Blennow, Karl Broich, Enrica Cavedo, Sebastian James Crutch, Jean‐François Dartigues, Charles J. Duyckaerts, Stéphane Epelbaum, Giovanni Battista Frisoni, Serge G. Gauthier, Rémy Genthon, Alida A. Gouw, Marie‐Odile Habert, David M. Holtzman, Miia Kivipelto, Simone Lista, José Luís Molinuevo, Sid E. O’Bryant, Gil D. Rabinovici, Christopher Cleon Rowe, Stephen Salloway, Lon S. S. Schneider, Reisa Anne Sperling, Marc Teichmann, María C. Carrillo, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Clifford R. Jack. Alzheimer s & Dementia, 2016-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Plain-language summary
During the past decade, a conceptual shift occurred in the field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) considering the disease as a continuum. Thanks to evolving biomarker research and substantial discoveries, it is now possible to identify the disease even at the preclinical stage before the occurrence of the first clinical symptoms. This preclinical stage of AD has become a major research focus as the field postulates that early intervention may offer the best chance of therapeutic success. To date, very little evidence is established on this "silent" stage of the disease. A clarification is needed about the definitions and lexicon, the limits, the natural history, the markers of progression, and the ethical consequence of detecting the disease at this asymptomatic stage. This article is aimed at addressing all the different issues by providing for each of them an updated review of the literature and evidence, with practical recommendations.
What this study adds
Evidence grade: Not rated
Reviews the evidence on preclinical Alzheimer's disease, the stage before symptoms appear, covering definitions, natural history, markers of progression and the ethics of detecting the disease at this stage. It offers practical recommendations.
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
Dubois, B., Hampel, H. J., Feldman, H., Scheltens, P., Aisen, P. S. S., Andrieu, S., et al. (2016). Preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Definition, natural history, and diagnostic criteria. Alzheimer s & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2016.02.002
Vancouver
Dubois B, Hampel HJ, Feldman H, Scheltens P, Aisen PSS, Andrieu S, et al. Preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Definition, natural history, and diagnostic criteria. Alzheimer s & Dementia. 2016. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2016.02.002. PMID: 27012484.
BibTeX
@article{dubois2016-27012484,
author = {Dubois, Bruno and Hampel, Harald Juergen and Feldman, Howard and Scheltens, Philip and Aisen, Paul S. S. and Andrieu, Sandrine and Bakardjian, Hovagim and Benali, Habib and Bertram, Lars and Blennow, Kaj and Broich, Karl and Cavedo, Enrica and Crutch, Sebastian James and Dartigues, Jean‐François and Duyckaerts, Charles J. and Epelbaum, Stéphane and Frisoni, Giovanni Battista and Gauthier, Serge G. and Genthon, Rémy and Gouw, Alida A. and Habert, Marie‐Odile and Holtzman, David M. and Kivipelto, Miia and Lista, Simone and Molinuevo, José Luís and O’Bryant, Sid E. and Rabinovici, Gil D. and Rowe, Christopher Cleon and Salloway, Stephen and Schneider, Lon S. S. and Sperling, Reisa Anne and Teichmann, Marc and Carrillo, María C. and Cummings, Jeffrey L. and Jack, Clifford R.},
title = {{Preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Definition, natural history, and diagnostic criteria}},
journal = {Alzheimer s \& Dementia},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1016/j.jalz.2016.02.002},
pmid = {27012484},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2016.02.002}
}
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 35 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.
Why it matters
Reviews the evidence on preclinical Alzheimer's disease, the stage before symptoms appear, covering definitions, natural history, markers of progression and the ethics of detecting the disease at this stage. It offers practical recommendations.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Getting a diagnosis →
How this study scored 59/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on strength of evidence, so that was left out: it earned 56 of the 95 points we could judge it on, which is 59 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer s & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | — / 5 | No evidence rating recorded — left out of this score |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,914 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 159.5 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 123.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 530 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Clifford R. Jack: h-index 203 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 52 institution(s) in 12 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27012484) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 56 / 95 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 56 of the 95 points we could judge it on is 59 out of 100. |
| Total | 59 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2016.02.002
- PubMed: 27012484
- Original source →
- Free full text: Pure Amsterdam UMC →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Getting a diagnosis from nearby years
Also in Getting a diagnosis
141 studies in the library are filed under Getting a diagnosis with no topic tag they share with another; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed tour of them. The Getting a diagnosis hub.