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What Does a Positive Alzheimer Disease Blood-Based Biomarker Result Mean in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment?
Jemma Hazan, Kathy Y Liu, Jeremy Darryl Isaacs, Nick C. Fox, Robert Howard. Neurology, 2026-05-04
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Blood-based biomarkers (BBMs) for Alzheimer disease (AD) offer widely expanded access to biomarker-informed diagnoses in community settings that have previously lacked such resources. However, integrating them into current clinical diagnostic practice presents challenges, particularly in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Limited data are available to guide clinicians on when to test, how to counsel patients with MCI and a positive AD BBM result about their risk of dementia progression, or which evidence-based dementia prevention strategies or treatments to recommend. This Perspective article outlines the key challenges faced by clinicians and patients when addressing a diagnosis of "MCI due to AD" and offers suggestions for appropriate pretest counseling and future research directions to address current knowledge gaps.
Key findings
- Limited data are available to guide clinicians on when to test, how to counsel patients with MCI and a positive AD BBM result about their risk of dementia progression, or which evidence-based dementia prevention strategies or treatments to recommend.
Why it matters
This perspective article notes that limited data are available to guide clinicians on when to test for Alzheimer's disease blood-based biomarkers, how to counsel patients with mild cognitive impairment and a positive result about dementia risk, or which prevention strategies or treatments to recommend. It outlines challenges and suggestions for pretest counseling and future research, not a treatment or cure.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
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 (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (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 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.5 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.7× 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 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Robert Howard: h-index 95 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42081782) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 44 / 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).
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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hazan, J., Liu, K. Y., Isaacs, J. D., Fox, N. C., & Howard, R. (2026). What Does a Positive Alzheimer Disease Blood-Based Biomarker Result Mean in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment? Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000214953
Vancouver
Hazan J, Liu KY, Isaacs JD, Fox NC, Howard R. What Does a Positive Alzheimer Disease Blood-Based Biomarker Result Mean in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment? Neurology. 2026. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000214953. PMID: 42081782.
BibTeX
@article{hazan2026-42081782,
author = {Hazan, Jemma and Liu, Kathy Y and Isaacs, Jeremy Darryl and Fox, Nick C. and Howard, Robert},
title = {{What Does a Positive Alzheimer Disease Blood-Based Biomarker Result Mean in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment?}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000214953},
pmid = {42081782},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000214953}
}
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