Heterogeneity in trajectories of the natural course of dementia in incident dementia cases: the influence of co-morbidity

Title of project or programme

Title of PI

Principal Investigators of project/programme grant

Title	Forname	Surname	Institution	Country
prof.dr.	Marcel	Olde Rikkert	Alzheimer Centrum Nijmegen	Netherlands
prof.dr.	Frans	Verhey	Alzheimer Centrum Limburg	Netherlands
prof.dr.	Philip	Scheltens	Alzheimercentrum VUmc	Netherlands
dr.	Rene	Melis	Radboud University Nijmegen / Geriatric Medicine	Netherlands
prof.dr.	Roy	Kessels	Radboud University Nijmegen / Donders Institute	Netherlands
dr.	Bianca	Schalk	Radboud University Nijmegen / Donders Institute	Netherlands

Address of institution of lead PI

Institution	Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre / Alzheimer Centrum Nijmegen
Street Address	Reinier Postlaan 4
City	Nijmegen
Postcode	6525 GC

Country

Netherlands

Source of funding information
Dutch Alzheimer’s Association (Azheimer Nederland)
Total sum awarded (Euro)
750000
Start date of award
01-10-2009
Total duration of award in months
60
The project/programme is most relevant to

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias

Keywords
dementia, natural course of disease, co-morbidity
Research abstract in English
To study the natural course of dementia and its disease subtypes in a population of newly diagnosed dementia cases, and the influence of co-morbidity on the natural course of the disease. This information will be used to develop prediction rules for the outcome of dementia and the transitional stages in dementia (e.g. institutionalisation). Objectives are: 1) To investigate heterogeneity in trajectories of disease progression, survival, institutionalization, and successful outcome in incident dementia cases, with specific attention given to the influence of the number of chronic co-morbidities and their severity, and distinct well accepted summary scores of comorbidity; 2) To investigate and compare trajectories of disease progression in dementia syndrome and its disease subtypes, right before and after institutionalization and before death for incident dementia cases; 3) To develop prediction rules for prediction of survival, institutionalization, and successful trajectories of the course of dementia from information available at baseline for different time frames since disease onset.
Lay Summary

In which category does this research fall?

Basic research

Heterogeneity in trajectories of the natural course of dementia in incident dementia cases: the influence of co-morbidity

Investments > €500k
Netherlands
Alzheimer’s disease & other dementias
2011