Carl Taswell et al, 2018, Safety of Disclosing Amyloid Imaging Results to MCI and AD Patients published as MHFM 2018 Volume 14 Issue 2 pages 748-756.
Objective: To assess the psychological impact of disclosing a positive or negative amyloid brain scan result to symptomatic individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study. Setting: Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. Participants: A total of 133 individuals aged 50–85 with MCI or mild AD enrolled in the study with data collected between October 2014 and June 2016. Interventions: Disclosure of amyloid imaging results to participants. Measurements: Positron emission tomography (PET) brain amyloid imaging with [18F]-NAV4694; psychometric scales including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS-A and HADS-D) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) performed before and after disclosure of amyloid imaging results. Results: We did not observe any worsening of psychological health with a panel of psychometric scales assessed on individuals to whom amyloid brain scan results were disclosed. Conclusions: We consider it safe, without apparent risk of harm to patients, to disclose amyloid imaging results to patients who have no prior history of neuropsychiatric illness.
BHA Directors are pleased to announce the papers published by our 2018 BHAVI students.
If you are a student interested in applying for BHAVI 2019, information is now available at 2019 BHAVI programs.
All of us at Brain Health Alliance wish to thank our financial contributors for their donations, without whom our education and research work would not be possible.