Would you want to know? Public attitudes on early diagnostic testing for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neurodegenerative condition, is one of the most prevalent kinds of dementia, whose frequency doubles for every 5 years of age in elderly. Objective: To determine the correlation between AD and olfactory alterations, identifying the most affected domains and exploring the utility of olfactory tests for complementing early diagnosis. Methods: Databases were searched using the terms “olfactory OR smell OR olfaction AND alzheimer” for articles related to the proposed theme. The selected studies were categorized and evaluated separately depending on the method of analysis of the olfactory tests: identification of odors, discrimination and recognition, and a meta-analysis was carried out. Results: Fifty-one articles were selected for analysis. The effect size for most studies was large, as were the summary values for each category of individualized olfactory analysis. Conclusion: Among the olfactory domains, except memory, identification appears to be the most altered in AD. The possibility of including tests that specifically evaluate the identification of odors as an item in early diagnostic evaluation should be explored. PROSPERO registration: CRD42018089076.

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Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia Guidelines for Diagnostic Testing

American Journal of Alzheimer s Disease & Other Dementias® ◽

10.1177/1533317512470209 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 111-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Ingrid Arevalo-Rodriguez ◽

Olga L. Pedraza ◽

Andrea Rodríguez ◽

Erick Sánchez ◽

Ignasi Gich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Guideline Development ◽

Diagnostic Testing ◽

Agree Ii ◽

Adequate Treatment ◽

Wide Variability ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease Dementia ◽

Clinical Practice Guideline Development

Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AD dementia) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases worldwide, with a growing incidence during the last decades. Clinical diagnosis of cognitive impairment and presence of AD biomarkers have become important issues for early and adequate treatment. We performed a systematic literature search and quality appraisal of AD dementia guidelines, published between 2005 and 2011, which contained diagnostic recommendations on AD dementia. We also analyzed diagnostic recommendations related to the use of brief cognitive tests, neuropsychological evaluation, and AD biomarkers. Of the 537 retrieved references, 15 met the selection criteria. We found that Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE)-II domains such as applicability and editorial independence had the lowest scores. The wide variability on assessment of quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were the main concerns identified regarding diagnostic testing. Although the appropriate methodology for clinical practice guideline development is well known, the quality of diagnostic AD dementia guidelines can be significantly improved.

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