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The TAS Test project: a prospective longitudinal validation of new online motor-cognitive tests to detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease and estimate 5-year risks of cognitive decline and dementia
Alty J, Bai Q, Li R, Lawler K, St George RJ, Hill E, Bindoff A, Garg S et al.. BMC neurology, 2022-07-18
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background The worldwide prevalence of dementia is rapidly rising. Alzheimer's disease (AD), accounts for 70% of cases and has a 10-20-year preclinical period, when brain pathology covertly progresses before cognitive symptoms appear. The 2020 Lancet Commission estimates that 40% of dementia cases could be prevented by modifying lifestyle/medical risk factors. To optimise dementia prevention effectiveness, there is urgent need to identify individuals with preclinical AD for targeted risk reduction. Current preclinical AD tests are too invasive, specialist or costly for population-level assessments. We have developed a new online test, TAS Test, that assesses a range of motor-cognitive functions and has capacity to be delivered at significant scale. TAS Test combines two innovations: using hand movement analysis to detect preclinical AD, and computer-human interface technologies to enable robust 'self-testing' data collection. The aims are to validate TAS Test to [1] identify preclinical AD, and [2] predict risk of cognitive decline and AD dementia. Methods Aim 1 will be addressed through a cross-sectional study of 500 cognitively healthy older adults, who will complete TAS Test items comprising measures of motor control, processing speed, attention, visuospatial ability, memory and language. TAS Test measures will be compared to a blood-based AD biomarker, phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181). Aim 2 will be addressed through a 5-year prospective cohort study of 10,000 older adults. Participants will complete TAS Test annually and subtests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB) biennially. 300 participants will undergo in-person clinical assessments. We will use machine learning of motor-cognitive performance on TAS Test to develop an algorithm that classifies preclinical AD risk (p-tau181-defined) and determine the precision to prospectively estimate 5-year risks of cognitive decline and AD. Discussion This study will establish the precision of TAS Test to identify preclinical AD and estimate risk of cognitive decline and AD. If accurate, TAS Test will provide a low-cost, accessible enrichment strategy to pre-screen individuals for their likelihood of AD pathology prior to more expensive tests such as blood or imaging biomarkers. This would have wide applications in public health initiatives and clinical trials. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05194787 , 18 January 2022. Retrospectively registered.
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APA 7th
Alty, J., Bai, Q., Li, R., Lawler, K., St George, R. J., Hill, E., et al. (2022). The TAS Test project: a prospective longitudinal validation of new online motor-cognitive tests to detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease and estimate 5-year risks of cognitive decline and dementia. BMC neurology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02772-5
Vancouver
Alty J, Bai Q, Li R, Lawler K, St George RJ, Hill E, et al. The TAS Test project: a prospective longitudinal validation of new online motor-cognitive tests to detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease and estimate 5-year risks of cognitive decline and dementia. BMC neurology. 2022. doi:10.1186/s12883-022-02772-5. PMID: 35850660.
BibTeX
@article{alty2022-35850660,
author = {Alty, J. and Bai, Q. and Li, R. and Lawler, K. and St George, R. J. and Hill, E. and Bindoff, A. and Garg, S. and others},
title = {{The TAS Test project: a prospective longitudinal validation of new online motor-cognitive tests to detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease and estimate 5-year risks of cognitive decline and dementia}},
journal = {BMC neurology},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1186/s12883-022-02772-5},
pmid = {35850660},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02772-5}
}
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Key findings
- We have developed a new online test, TAS Test, that assesses a range of motor-cognitive functions and has capacity to be delivered at significant scale.
- TAS Test measures will be compared to a blood-based AD biomarker, phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181).
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Study details
- Study designcohort study
- Participants300
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 67/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 67 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A cohort study following people over 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 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 300 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 | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35850660) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 39 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 67 out of 100. |
| Total | 67 / 100 | — |
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