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52/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 52 out of 100. Tau biomarkers

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Early identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is essential for timely intervention, particularly in primary care. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of a scalable, multimodal framework in a real-world, population-based cohort. A total of 277 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 60 years from the STOP-ALZHEIMER DEBA study (Basque Country, Spain) underwent brief cognitive screening (MMSE, M@T, Fototest, AD8) with optimized cut-offs, along with clinical risk assessment.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Moderate

The record lists 181 participants. This study evaluated a stepwise framework combining brief cognitive screening, risk assessment, brain imaging, and plasma biomarkers to identify Alzheimer's disease pathology in primary care. Reported effect size: AUC 0.66-0.77; AUC = 0.842; AUC = 0.886.

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

Altuna, M., García-Sebastián, M., Cipriani, R., Capetillo-Zarate, E., Alberdi, E., Estanga, A., et al. (2025). Stepwise approach to alzheimer's disease diagnosis in primary care using cognitive screening, risk factors, neuroimaging and plasma biomarkers. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-17394-3

Vancouver

Altuna M, García-Sebastián M, Cipriani R, Capetillo-Zarate E, Alberdi E, Estanga A, et al. Stepwise approach to alzheimer's disease diagnosis in primary care using cognitive screening, risk factors, neuroimaging and plasma biomarkers. Scientific reports. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-17394-3. PMID: 40866545.

BibTeX

@article{altuna2025-40866545,
  author  = {Altuna, M. and García-Sebastián, M. and Cipriani, R. and Capetillo-Zarate, E. and Alberdi, E. and Estanga, A. and Ecay-Torres, M. and Iriondo, A. and others},
  title   = {{Stepwise approach to alzheimer's disease diagnosis in primary care using cognitive screening, risk factors, neuroimaging and plasma biomarkers}},
  journal = {Scientific reports},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1038/s41598-025-17394-3},
  pmid    = {40866545},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-17394-3}
}

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.

How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record lists 181 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record reports “AUC 0.66-0.77; AUC = 0.842; AUC = 0.886”. 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

We evaluated the diagnostic performance of a scalable, multimodal framework in a real-world, population-based cohort.
A total of 277 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 60 years from the STOP-ALZHEIMER DEBA study (Basque Country, Spain) underwent brief cognitive screening (MMSE, M@T, Fototest, AD8) with optimized cut-offs, along with clinical risk assessment.
Among them, 181 participants also completed structural MRI, plasma biomarker profiling (p-tau181, Aβ42/40, GFAP, NfL), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis.
We assessed performance for detecting cognitive impairment, CSF amyloid positivity (A+), and combined amyloid-tau positivity (A + T+).

Why it matters

This study evaluated a stepwise framework combining brief cognitive screening, risk assessment, brain imaging, and plasma biomarkers to identify Alzheimer's disease pathology in primary care. It addresses diagnosis rather than treatment, cure, or prevention.

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

Study details

Participants181
Effect sizeAUC 0.66-0.77; AUC = 0.842; AUC = 0.886
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 52/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Scientific reports)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	Scientific Reports: journal h-index 463 (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	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	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	181 participants
Effect reported	3 / 3	Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar)
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	2 / 7	Cited 7 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	1 / 5	2.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 4.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	1 / 6	Cited by 1 other studies in this library
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 7 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Pablo Martínez‐Lage: h-index 45 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Instituto de Salud Carlos III: institution h-index 649 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	3 / 3	OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40866545)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	52 / 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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