Deep and frequent clinical evaluation in Alzheimer’s disease
Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease increasingly focus on the earliest stages of the disease, with the aim to prevent further progression. To establish treatment effectiveness in these early disease stages, it is necessary to demonstrate subtle changes in language, memory and thinking. The Deep and Frequent Clinical Evaluation in Alzheimer’s disease (DEFEAT-AD) project established a partnership with Winterlight labs and METIS Cognition to develop a profile of remotely assessed digital tests with improved sensitivity to quantify decline in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by a decline in memory, thinking and language functions and increasing difficulty in handling everyday activities. Worldwide, around 50 million people have dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60-70% of the cases. Currently, no curative treatments are available for Alzheimer’s disease, with the most likely explanation that treatments should be provided in the earlier stages of the disease. In these earlier stages, it is essential to capture fine-grained changes in language, memory and thinking, for which innovation of measurement is necessary.
Low burden, frequent and at-home measurement could advance the evaluation of treatment in early disease stages. DEFEAT-AD will develop a remote measurement toolbox for at-home assessment, and assess patient and caregiver perspectives on the practical and ethical issues associated with frequent remote assessments. Subsequently, the toolbox will be validated in individuals at-risk for Alzheimer’s disease to unveil patterns associated with disease characteristics. Finally, the steps necessary for implementation will be mapped to ensure implementation of the novel toolbox.
By establishing a ready-to-use toolbox to detect meaningful cognitive changes in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, DEFEAT-AD enables precision evaluation and advancement of early treatments in Alzheimer’s disease.
