Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker Decision-Making among Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Their Care Partners

Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarker tests can be ordered as part of the diagnostic workup of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Little is known about how patients with MCI and their care partners decide whether to pursue testing. Objective To examine factors that influence AD b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease 2024, Vol.11 (2), p.285-293
Main Authors: Cox, Chelsea G., Salazar, C. R., Birnbaum, A. I., Witbracht, M., Tam, S. P., Thai, G. T., Sajjadi, S. A., Gillen, D. L., Grill, J. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Biomarkers
Caregivers
Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction - psychology
Disease Progression
Geriatrics/Gerontology
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neurology
Original Research
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Summary:Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarker tests can be ordered as part of the diagnostic workup of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Little is known about how patients with MCI and their care partners decide whether to pursue testing. Objective To examine factors that influence AD biomarker testing decisions among patients with MCI and their care partners. Design We performed structured research interviews with patients with MCI and their study partners to assess the importance of eight factors in the decision whether to undergo AD biomarker testing (6-point Likert scale; 1-extremely unimportant to 6-extremely important): cost, fear of testing procedures, learning if AD is the cause of cognitive problems, concern about health insurance, instructing future planning, informing treatment decisions, family members’ opinions, and doctor recommendation. Setting Two researchers administered interviews with participants in-person (i.e., participant home, research center) or remotely (i.e., telephone, video-conference). Participants We completed interviews with 65 patients with a diagnosis of MCI and 57 study partners, referred by dementia specialist clinicians from the University of California, Irvine health system. Measurements We used generalized estimating equations (GEE) to examine the mean importance of each factor among patients and study partners, and the mean difference in importance of each factor within dyads. Results One third of participants reported the patient had previously undergone AD biomarker testing. Fifty-five percent of patients and 65% of study partners who reported no previous testing indicated a desire for the patient to be tested. GEE analyses found that patients and study partners rated the following factors with highest importance: informing treatment decisions (mean score 5.29, 95% CI: 5.06, 5.52 for patients; mean score 5.56, 95% CI: 5.41, 5.72 for partners); doctor recommendation (4.94, 95% CI: 4.73, 5.15 for patients; 5.16, 95% CI: 4.97, 5.34 for partners); and instructing future planning (4.88, 95% CI: 4.59, 5.16 for patients; 5.11, 95% CI: 4.86, 5.35 for partners). High dyadic agreement was observed for all factors except fear of testing, which patients rated with lower importance than their study partners. Conclusions Biomarker testing for AD in patients with MCI is a rapidly evolving practice and limited data exist on patient perspectives. In this study, most patients and their care partners were interested in t
ISSN:2426-0266
DOI:10.14283/jpad.2024.10