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. 2023 Apr 27;15(1):87.
doi: 10.1186/s13195-023-01227-4.

Digital health technologies and Alzheimer's disease clinical trials: might decentralized clinical trials increase participation by people with cognitive impairment?

Victoire Leroy #  1   2 , Wassim Gana #  3 , Amal Aïdoud  3   4 , Jacques-Alexis N'kodo  3 , Anna-Chloé Balageas  5 , Pascal Blanc  3   5 , Dominique Bomia  5 , Camille Debacq  3 , Bertrand Fougère  3   6
Affiliations

Digital health technologies and Alzheimer's disease clinical trials: might decentralized clinical trials increase participation by people with cognitive impairment?

Victoire Leroy et al. Alzheimers Res Ther. .

Abstract

Background: Therapeutic trials in Alzheimer's disease (AD) face many obstacles-particularly with regard to screening and recruitment.

Discussion: Decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) are being developed in other diseases and appear to be of value for overcoming these difficulties. The use of remote visits offers hope of broader recruitment and thus a reduction in inequalities due to age, geography, and ethnicity. Furthermore, it might be easier to involve primary care providers and caregivers in DCTs. However, further studies are needed to determine the feasibility of DCTs in AD. A mixed-model DCT might constitute the first step towards completely remote trials in AD and should be assessed first.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Decentralized trials; Digital tools; Therapeutic trials.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Trials designs in Alzheimer's disease. A comparison of conventional and DCT designs in AD, with recommendations for optimizing research processes. AD, Alzheimer’s disease; AE, adverse event; APOE, apolipoprotein E; ECG, electrocardiogram; FDG-PET, fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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