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System changes to empower primary care in Alzheimer's disease detection and care
Phares Sharon, Kremer Ian, Wall J K, Wood Julie, Baumgart Matthew, Dickson Sean, Fickie Matt, Hubbard Tom et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026-04-28
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Despite advances in disease-modifying treatments, significant barriers in the evaluation and clinical management of people with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain. These barriers have been documented in scientific literature and increasingly call for primary care to play a larger role in the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of AD. Drawing upon the work of a multistakeholder consortium, this article identifies systemic and structural barriers that hinder primary care professionals in the United States from playing a larger role. We propose solutions to these barriers and call for evolution of the U.S. healthcare system to ensure it is prepared to adapt to the rapidly progressing scientific and societal landscape and meet the growing needs of people affected by the early stages of AD.
Key findings
- Despite advances in disease-modifying treatments, significant barriers in the evaluation and clinical management of people with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain.
Why it matters
This article identifies systemic and structural barriers that keep US primary care professionals from playing a larger role in detecting, diagnosing, treating and monitoring early Alzheimer's disease, and proposes solutions. It is a health-system commentary and does not itself test any treatment, cure or prevention.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded 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 | 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 | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 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 | 1 / 7 | Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-17) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.1× 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 | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Gigi Hirsch: h-index 10 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Tufts University: institution h-index 1,043 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42047299) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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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
Sharon, P., Ian, K., Wall J, K., Julie, W., Matthew, B., Sean, D., et al. (2026). System changes to empower primary care in Alzheimer's disease detection and care. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71276
Vancouver
Sharon P, Ian K, Wall J K, Julie W, Matthew B, Sean D, et al. System changes to empower primary care in Alzheimer's disease detection and care. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2026. doi:10.1002/alz.71276. PMID: 42047299.
BibTeX
@article{sharon2026-42047299,
author = {Sharon, Phares and Ian, Kremer and Wall J, K. and Julie, Wood and Matthew, Baumgart and Sean, Dickson and Matt, Fickie and Tom, Hubbard and others},
title = {{System changes to empower primary care in Alzheimer's disease detection and care}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1002/alz.71276},
pmid = {42047299},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71276}
}
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