Online clinical tools to support the use of new plasma biomarker diagnostic technology in the assessment of Alzheimer’s disease: a narrative review

Abstract

Abstract Recent advances in new diagnostic technologies for Alzheimer’s disease have improved the speed and precision of diagnosis. However, accessing the potential benefits of this technology poses challenges for clinicians, such as deciding whether it is clinically appropriate to order a diagnostic test, which specific test or tests to order and how to interpret test results and communicate these to the patient and their caregiver. Tools to support decision-making could provide additional structure and information to the clinical assessment process. These tools could be accessed online, and such ‘e-tools’ can provide an interactive interface to support patients and clinicians in the use of new diagnostic technologies for Alzheimer’s disease. We performed a narrative review of the literature to synthesize information available on this research topic. Relevant studies that provide an understanding of how these online tools could be used to optimize the clinical utility of diagnostic technology were identified. Based on these, we discuss the ways in which e-tools have been used to assist in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and propose recommendations for future research to aid further development.