Australian National University Alzheimer Research Articles

Cross-cultural adaptation of the "Australian National University Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index" for the Brazilian population.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents a major public health problem and it is therefore crucial that modifiable risk factors be known prior to onset of dementia in late-life. The "Australian National University - Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index" (ANU-ADRI) is one of the potential tools for primary prevention of the disease.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to devise an adapted version of the ANU-ADRI for use in Brazil.MethodsThe instrument was translated from its original language of English into Portuguese and then back-translated into English by bilingual translators. It was subsequently reviewed and evaluated as to the degree of translation issues and equivalence. In this study, the ANU-ADRI was applied using individual (face-to-face) interviews in a public hospital, unlike the original version which is applied online by self-report. The final version (pretest) was evaluated in a sample of 10 participants with a mean age of 60 years (±11.46) and mean education of 11 years (±6.32).ResultsThe intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (inter-rater) was 0.954 (P<0.001 for a confidence interval (CI) of 95%=[0.932; 0.969]). Cultural equivalence was performed without the need for a second instrument application step.ConclusionAfter cross-cultural adaptation, the language of the resultant questionnaire was deemed easily understandable by the Brazilian population.

Validating the role of the Australian National University Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Risk Index (ANU-ADRI) and a genetic risk score in progression to cognitive impairment in a population-based cohort of older adults followed for 12 years

BackgroundThe number of people living with dementia is expected to exceed 130 million by 2050, which will have serious personal, social and economic implications. Employing successful intervention and treatment strategies focused on disease prevention is currently the only available approach that can have an impact on the projected rates of dementia, with risk assessment being a key component of population-based risk reduction for identification of at-risk individuals. We evaluated a risk index comprising lifestyle, medical and demographic factors (the Australian National University Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Index [ANU-ADRI]), as well as a genetic risk score (GRS), for assessment of the risk of progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsThe ANU-ADRI was computed for the baseline assessment of 2078 participants in the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life project. GRSs were constructed on the basis of 25 single-nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Participants were assessed for clinically diagnosed MCI and dementia as well as psychometric test-based MCI (MCI-TB) at 12 years of follow-up. Multi-state models were used to estimate the odds of transitioning from cognitively normal (CN) to MCI, dementia and MCI-TB over 12 years according to baseline ANU-ADRI and GRS.ResultsA higher ANU-ADRI score was associated with increased risk of progressing from CN to both MCI and MCI-TB (HR 1.07 [95% CI 1.04–1.11]; 1.07 [1.04–1.09]). The GRS was associated with transitions from CN to dementia (HR 4.19 [95% CI 1.72–10.20), but not to MCI or MCI-TB (HR 1.05 [95% CI 0.86–1.29]; 1.03 [0.87–1.21]). Limitations of our study include that the ethnicity of participants in the PATH project is predominately Caucasian, potentially limiting the generalisability of the results of this study to people of other ethnicities. Biomarkers of AD were not available to define MCI attributable to AD. Not all the predictive variables for the ANU-ADRI were available in the PATH project.ConclusionsIn the general population, the ANU-ADRI, comprising lifestyle, medical and demographic factors, is associated with the risk of progression from CN to MCI, whereas a GRS comprising the main AD risk genes was not associated with this risk. The ANU-ADRI may be used for population-level risk assessment and screening.

The Australian National University Alzheimer's disease Risk Index (ANU-ADRI) predicts cognitive impairment in a community study of older adults

The Australian National University Alzheimer's disease Risk Index (ANU-ADRI) predicts cognitive impairment in a community study of older adults

Assessing reliability of short and tick box forms of the ANU-ADRI: Convenient alternatives of a self-report Alzheimer's disease risk assessment

IntroductionTo assess the reliability of short versions of the Australian National University Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index (ANU-ADRI). MethodsA short form of the ANU-ADRI (ANU-ADRI-SF) was developed by assessing risk and protective factors with single questions where possible and with short forms of sub-questionnaires where available. The tick box form of the ANU-ADRI (ANU-ADRI-TB) was developed with unique questions for each risk and protective factor for Alzheimer's disease. The short versions were evaluated in an independent community sample of 504 participants with a mean age of 45.01 (SD = 14.85, range = 18–81). ResultsThe short versions demonstrated high reliabilities when compared with the ANU-ADRI. However, the proportion of misclassification was high for some risk factors and particularly for the ANU-ADRI-TB. DiscussionThe ANU-ADRI-SF may be considered if less reliable questions from the ANU-ADRI-SF can be replaced with more reliable questions from the ANU-ADRI for risk/protective factors with high misclassification.

Body brain life: A randomized controlled trial of an online dementia risk reduction intervention in middle-aged adults at risk of Alzheimer's disease

ObjectiveTo examine the efficacy of body brain life (BBL), a 12-week online dementia risk reduction intervention. MethodsBBL was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial in 176 middle-aged adults with >2 risk factors and <2 protective factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) assessed on a brief screening instrument. Participants were randomized to BBL, BBL plus face-to-face group sessions (BBL + FF) or active control (control). Score on the Australian National University-Alzheimer's disease risk index (ANU-ADRI), a validated index of AD risk, was the primary outcome measure assessed at baseline, 12, and 26 weeks. ResultsA group by time interaction at 26 weeks showed a significant reduction in ANU-ADRI score for BBL compared with control. Planned contrasts showed the BBL and BBL + FF groups had improvement in ANU-ADRI scores at 12 weeks (BBL + FF: z = −0.25; P = .021; BBL: z = −0.25; P = .008) and 26 weeks (BBL + FF: z = −0.48; P < .001; BBL: z = −0.28; P = .004) due to increase in protective factors. ConclusionsThis short intervention resulted in dementia risk reduction. Online dementia risk reduction interventions show promise for reducing the overall dementia risk in middle-aged adults with multiple risk factors.Clinical Trial Registration: The study is registered under Trial Registration: Reg. # ACTRN12612000147886.