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Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia in older people. The aim of LewyPro is to examine and characterise symptoms and brain changes during the prodromal period of LBD. Earlier diagnosis is important because it facilitates care planning, leads to earlier treatment of cognitive symptoms and enables earlier identification of other symptoms, including parkinsonism.

Lewy Pro is recruiting a group of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and prodromal symptoms suggestive of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and following them up annually to assess biomarker changes and clinical course. The initial assessment will include a detailed clinical assessment, a blood sample, a lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid, and a DaTSCAN.

Last Update 21/09/2017

To investigate factors that are relevant to maintain functional competence, to prevent long-term disability and to minimise unnecessary service utilisation among older people. (1) Therefore, periodic assessments are performed covering information on functional status (ROBUST, postROBUST, preFRAIL, FRAIL according tio LUCAS Functional Ability Index; Dapp U et al. BMC Geriatr 2014;14:141.), health behaviour, health care use, the need of long-term care, and survival over a period of more than 10 years. (2) Long-term effects of randomised (RCT) health promotion intervention will be evaluated (Dapp U et al. Draft for Dtsch Arztebl Int 2017; Neumann L et al. J Nutr Health Aging 2017;doi:10.1007/s12603-017-0932-1). There were two approaches (a) small group sessions ﾓActive health promotion in old ageﾔ (Dapp U et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2011;66:591-8.), and (b)
home visits (Pr’fener F Z Gerontol Geriatr 2016;49:596-605).

3,326 independently living community-dwelling elderly people (60 years and over) were recruited from 21 general practices in 2000 (baseline). They were followed up over a ten year period until 2010 resulting in multidimensional data sets for every single participant at baseline, 1 year, 7 year and 9 year follow up (Dapp U et al. BMC Geriatr 2012 Jul 9;12:35.).

Last Update 21/09/2017

Current evidence on older adults is derived from population-based cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, which may not include frail individuals. Data are lacking on older outpatients, a potentially diverse population. To bridge the gap between current evidence and clinical practice needs, the Milan Geriatrics 75+ Cohort Study was designed as an observational hospital-based outpatient cohort study. This study included 1861 new consecutive outpatients aged ?75 years who attended a first comprehensive visit at the Geriatric Unit of ‘I.R.C.C.S. Ca’ Granda’ in Milan, Italy, in the period between January 3, 2000 and March 25, 2004. These participants routinely underwent an extensive standardized structured medical examination and comprehensive geriatric assessment with trained physicians. At baseline, data were collected on reason for referral, demographics, physiological anamnesis, past and present medical history and medication use. Moreover, medical examination and anthropometric measurements were performed. Cognitive function was assessed using the 30-item Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Functional status was evaluated using Katz’ Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Lawton’ Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) questionnaires. At 10-year follow-up, all-cause mortality was assessed by collecting data from the Register Office of Milan or other town of residence.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS) is a project aimed at making MRI data sets of the brain freely available to the scientific community.

OASIS: Cross-sectional MRI Data in Young, Middle Aged, Nondemented and Demented Older Adults
This set consists of a cross-sectional collection of 416 subjects aged 18 to 96. For each subject, 3 or 4 individual T1-weighted MRI scans obtained in single scan sessions are included. The subjects are all right-handed and include both men and women. 100 of the included subjects over the age of 60 have been clinically diagnosed with very mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Additionally, a reliability data set is included containing 20 nondemented subjects imaged on a subsequent visit within 90 days of their initial session.

OASIS: Longitudinal MRI Data in Nondemented and Demented Older Adults
This set consists of a longitudinal collection of 150 subjects aged 60 to 96. Each subject was scanned on two or more visits, separated by at least one year for a total of 373 imaging sessions. For each subject, 3 or 4 individual T1-weighted MRI scans obtained in single scan sessions are included. The subjects are all right-handed and include both men and women. 72 of the subjects were characterized as nondemented throughout the study. 64 of the included subjects were characterized as demented at the time of their initial visits and remained so for subsequent scans, including 51 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Another 14 subjects were characterized as nondemented at the time of their initial visit and were subsequently characterized as demented at a later visit.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia (AgeCoDe) in primary care patients is an ongoing multicenter prospective study in elderly individuals with a focus on the identification of risk factors and predictors of cognitive decline and dementia.
Between January 1, 2003 and November 30, 2004 a total of 3327 subjects free of dementia at baseline were recruited from general practitioner (GP) registries and assessed with structured clinical interviews and cognitive tests. Since then, participants as well as their proxies were interviewed by trained staff every 1.5 years. In 2016 follow-up 9 was completed.
Main inclusion criteria were ages greater than 75 years, native German language, absence of severe hearing or vision impairments, and residing at home rather than in an institution.
The approval of this study was provided by the local ethics committees of the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg, D’sseldorf, Heidelberg/Mannheim, Leipzig, and Munich. All subjects gave written informed consent before the participation in this study.

Of the 3,327 patients interviewed at baseline, 84.8% (n = 2,820) could be personally interviewed 1.5 years later and 73.9% (n = 2,460) 3 years later. For the vast majority of subjects who could not be personally interviewed, systematic assessments, focusing particularly on dementia, were obtained from GPs, relatives or caregivers.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) is the centrepiece research activity of the Flinders Centre for Ageing Studies. The ALSA commenced in 1992 with 2087 participants aged 65 years or more. At Baseline, a comprehensive personal interview and assessment of neuropsychological and physiological functions was undertaken at each person’s home, supplemented by self-completed questionnaires, biochemistry, and additional clinical studies of physical function. The final wave (Wave 13) of data collection was carried out in 2014.

The general purpose of the ALSA study is to gain further understanding of how social, biomedical and environmental factors are associated with age related changes in health and well-being of persons aged 70 years and over. Emphasis is given in the overall study to defining and exploring the concept of healthy, active ageing, particularly in a South Australian context.

Last Update 21/09/2017

General objectives of the NuAge Study:
1. To assess changes in dietary intakes of ageing men and women (foods, energy, macronutrients, micronutrients) and longterm exposure to functional foods from a qualitative and quantitative perspective;
2. To assess the influence of longstanding and current dietary habits and evolving food choices on changes in numerous markers of physical and cognitive status, functional autonomy and social functioning;
3. To assess the impact of age-related alterations in energy metabolism (utilisation and expenditure) and body composition, on changes in numerous markers of physical and cognitive status, functional autonomy and social functioning;
4. To assess the impact of individual (biological, psychological, health, functional, behavioural) and environmental determinants on dietary intakes.

The population is comprised of 1793 healthy men and women, selected from three age groups (68ﾖ72, 73ﾖ77, 78ﾖ82) at recruitment. A total of 82.4% of the population is French speaking participants and a total of 14.3% is English speaking participants.

Last Update 21/09/2017

STROKOG is a consortium of longitudinal studies of cognitive disorders following stroke, TIA or small vessel disease. Developed under the auspices of VASCOG (Society for the Study of Vascular Cognitive and Behavioural Disorders), it is the first international effort to harmonise work on post-stroke dementia and is being led by CHeBA researchers.

The consortium brings together studies that have examined post-stroke or other high vascular risk cohorts longitudinally, with cognitive decline and dementia (including sub-types) as primary outcome variables. The included studies (N=27; total sample of more than 10,000 individuals, representing 17 countries) have rich neuropsychological and MRI data, and some recent studies (n=3) have included amyloid imaging in sub-samples. A number of studies have CSF and/or plasma available for biomarker studies, and participant enrolment in brain banks for neuropathology.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Swedish BioFINDER Study consists of four cohorts where patients are included prospectively and followed longitudinally (www.biofinder.se). At baseline, these individuals undergo detailed and standardized cognitive, neurological and psychiatric examinations. Plasma, blood, CSF and samples for cell biology studies are collected. Most also have also undergone advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and in many of the non-demented cases Amyloid and Tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging have also been done.

The subcohorts include:
i) Healthy volunteers. Ca 350 volunteers aged 60-100 years old from the population-based Malm’ EPIC cohort (380 participants as of Feb 2016). Follow-up time: at least 8 years with investigations repeated every second year. In this cohort, appr. 20% is expected to have preclinical AD.
ii) Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD). Ca 500 patients with MCI/SCD aged 60-80 years. Follow-up time: at least 6 years with investigations repeated every year. In this cohort, appr. 50% is expected to have prodromal AD.
iii) Patients with different dementia disorders. We include ca 250 dementia cases aged 40-100 years with AD, VaD, DLB, PDD or FTD. Follow-up time: at least 2 years with investigations repeated every year.
IV) Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD-related disorders. Ca 300 patients with Parkinson-like symptoms. Follow-up time: at least 6 years with investigations repeated every year.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is a longitudinal population cohort started in 1957, with a questionnaire administered to all Wisconsin High School seniors. In 1964, a randomly selected one-third of the members of the class of 1957 were followed up with a brief questionnaire to parents asking about their child’s post high-school education and occupation. Direct contact with the graduate began with a telephone interview in 1975, and subsequent telephone and mail surveys in 1993 2004. In 1977 a subset of graduate’s siblings were interviewed by phone and in 1995 and 2005 interviews were conducted with one sibling from each family whenever possible. Spouses of Graduates and Siblings who were married at the time of the 2004/2005 interview were also interviewed by phone. Most recently in-person interviews with a leave-behind questionnaire were administered in 2011 to both the graduate and sibling panels. Saliva was collected from both graduate and sibling participants via a mail-effort in 2008 and during the in-person 2011 interview.

Last Update 21/09/2017