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. 2023 Sep-Oct:53:130-134.
doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2023.07.007. Epub 2023 Aug 2.

Nurse-led pre-test counseling for Alzheimer's disease biomarker testing: Knowledge and skills required to meet the needs of patients and families

Olivia Greer  1 , Rebekah Cheng  2 , Lisa K Tamres  3 , Meghan Mattos  4 , Jonna L Morris  3 , Melissa L Knox  3 , Jennifer H Lingler  5
Affiliations

Nurse-led pre-test counseling for Alzheimer's disease biomarker testing: Knowledge and skills required to meet the needs of patients and families

Olivia Greer et al. Geriatr Nurs. 2023 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: Biomarker testing for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) brings new opportunities for nurses to foster shared decision-making by leading pre-test counseling (PTC) for patients and families.

Methods: Audio-recordings of 18 nurse-led PTC sessions were analyzed to characterize questions posed by patient and family members dyads considering whether to pursue amyloid positron emission tomography.

Results: Sessions lasted 20 to 75 minutes and generated rich discussion of the purpose and potential implications of amyloid imaging. Dyads posed questions regarding: basic neuroanatomy; the spectrum of normal cognitive aging to dementia; clinical phenotypes and pathological hallmarks of ADRD; secondary prevention of ADRD; and advance planning. In response, PTC facilitators provided disease-specific education, clarification of overt misconceptions, caregiver support, and emotion de-escalation.

Conclusion: Nurses conducting PTC for AD biomarker testing should be equipped to answer questions about topics both directly and indirectly related to testing, and also provide emotional support.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid PET; Mild cognitive impairment; Nurse-patient communication; Patient education.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The corresponding author, Dr. Lingler, has provided consultation to Genentech and Biogen, and received research support from Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly. None of the other co-authors have financial or personal conflicts of interest to declare at this time.

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