Recruitment methods in Alzheimer's disease research: general practice versus population based screening by mail
Recruitment methods in Alzheimer's disease research: general practice versus population based screening by mail
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DOI：
10.1186/1471-2288-10-35
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发表时间：
2010-04-29
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Sjobrend, Kjell
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Andersen, Fred;Engstad, Torgeir A.;Sjobrend, Kjell
背景：在阿尔茨海默病（AD）研究中，患者通常是从临床实践、记忆诊所或疗养院招募的。缺乏标准化的纳入和诊断标准是当前 AD 研究的一个主要问题。该研究的目的是探讨挪威北部农村同一地理区域内的全科诊所和基于人群的邮寄筛查样本之间的患者特征是否存在差异。方法：在拥有 70000 名居民的 9 个城市中设计了一项干预性研究。患者是从全科诊所招募的，或者是通过邮寄的基于人群的认知功能筛查招募的。我们向 11807 名 65 岁以上的人发送了一份调查问卷，其中 3767 人做出了回应。其中，438 名其答案被怀疑患有认知障碍的人被邀请接受进一步的认知和临床检查。使用描述性统计、卡方、独立样本 t 检验以及针对可能的混杂因素调整的协方差分析。结果：最终研究样本包括通过筛选招募的 100 名患者和来自全科诊所的 87 名患者。通过邮件筛选招募了更年轻、更自力更生、MMSE 总分更高的男性患者，而从全科诊所招募了认知障碍更严重的老年女性患者。年龄调整并没有改变通过筛选和一般实践招募的患者之间认知功能、自力更生和性别分布的统计显着差异。结论：认知障碍患者的不同招募程序提供了具有不同人口统计特征的研究样本。通过邮件进行初步认知筛查、之前的扩展认知测试和临床检查可能是早期 AD 研究中合适的招募策略。
Background: In Alzheimer's disease (AD) research patients are usually recruited from clinical practice, memory clinics or nursing homes. Lack of standardised inclusion and diagnostic criteria is a major concern in current AD studies. The aim of the study was to explore whether patient characteristics differ between study samples recruited from general practice and from a population based screening by mail within the same geographic areas in rural Northern Norway.Methods: An interventional study in nine municipalities with 70000 inhabitants was designed. Patients were recruited from general practice or by population based screening of cognitive function by mail. We sent a questionnaire to 11807 individuals >= 65 years of age of whom 3767 responded. Among these, 438 individuals whose answers raised a suspicion of cognitive impairment were invited to an extended cognitive and clinical examination. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, independent sample t-test and analyses of covariance adjusted for possible confounders were used.Results: The final study samples included 100 patients recruited by screening and 87 from general practice. Screening through mail recruited younger and more self-reliant male patients with a higher MMSE sum score, whereas older women with more severe cognitive impairment were recruited from general practice. Adjustment for age did not alter the statistically significant differences of cognitive function, self-reliance and gender distribution between patients recruited by screening and from general practice.Conclusions: Different recruitment procedures of individuals with cognitive impairment provided study samples with different demographic characteristics. Initial cognitive screening by mail, preceding extended cognitive testing and clinical examination may be a suitable recruitment strategy in studies of early stage AD.