Design and feasibility of an Alzheimer’s disease blood test study in a diverse community-based population

Abstract

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONAlzheimer’s disease (AD) blood tests are likely to become increasingly important in clinical practice, but need to be evaluated in diverse groups before use in the general population.METHODSThis study enrolled a community-based sample of older adults in the Saint Louis, Missouri, USA area. Participants completed a blood draw, AD8® dementia screening interview, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and survey about their perceptions of the blood test. A subset of participants completed additional blood collection, amyloid PET, MRI, and Clinical Dementia Rating® (CDR).RESULTSOf the 859 participants enrolled in this ongoing study, 20.6% self-identified as Black or African American. The AD8 and MoCA correlated moderately with the CDR. The blood test was well-accepted by the cohort, but perceived more positively by White and highly educated individuals.DISCUSSIONStudying an AD blood test in a diverse population is feasible, and may accelerate accurate diagnosis and implementation of effective treatments.