Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28472200›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2017

Comorbidity and progression of late onset Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review.

Miriam L Haaksma, Lara R Vilela, Alessandra Marengoni, Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Jeannie-Marie S Leoutsakos, Marcel G M Olde Rikkert, René J F Melis

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
53citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

53 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Accelerating real-world prediction and research in Alzheimer's: The M3AD study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
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  11. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 5 countries.

Miriam L HaaksmaRadboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3518-9152
Lara R VilelaRadboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1971-3695
Alessandra MarengoniAging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Amaia Calderón-LarrañagaAging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Jeannie-Marie S LeoutsakosDepartment of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Marcel G M Olde RikkertRadboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
René J F MelisRadboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7863-4738
Radboud University Nijmegen · NLStockholm University · SEJohns Hopkins University · US

Funding

'T V ASSESSMENT - MEMORY DISORDERED PATIENTS'P50AG005146 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI ALBERT, MARILYN S. · 1985 to 2019
$37.6M
NIA NIH HHS P50 AG005146
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by multiple dimensions including cognitive decline, decreased daily functioning and psychiatric symptoms. This systematic review aims to investigate the relation between somatic comorbidity burden and progression in late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD).

methodsWe searched four databases for observational studies that examined cross-sectional or longitudinal associations of cognitive or functional or neuropsychiatric outcomes with comorbidity in individuals with LOAD. From the 7966 articles identified originally, 11 studies were included in this review. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment was used. The large variation in progression measures, comorbidity indexes and study designs hampered the ability to perform a meta-analysis. This review was registered with PROSPERO under DIO: 10.15124/CRD42015027046.

resultsNine studies indicated that comorbidity burden was associated with deterioration in at least one of the three dimensions of LOAD examined. Seven out of ten studies investigating cognition found comorbidities to be related to decreased cognitive performance. Five out of the seven studies investigating daily functioning showed an association between comorbidity burden and decreased daily functioning. Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) increased with increasing comorbidity burden in two out of three studies investigating NPS. Associations were predominantly found in studies analyzing the association cross-sectionally, in a time-varying manner or across short follow-up (≤2 years). Rarely baseline comorbidity burden appeared to be associated with outcomes in studies analyzing progression over longer follow-up periods (>2 years).

conclusionThis review provides evidence of an association between somatic comorbidities and multifaceted LOAD progression. Given that time-varying comorbidity burden, but much less so baseline comorbidity burden, was associated with the three dimensions prospectively, this relationship cannot be reduced to a simple cause-effect relation and is more likely to be dynamic. Therefore, both future studies and clinical practice may benefit from regarding comorbidity as a modifiable factor with a possibly fluctuating influence on LOAD.

Indexed as

Activities of Daily LivingAlzheimer DiseaseDisease ProgressionHumansNeuropsychological Tests

Identifiers

PMID28472200
PMCPMC5417646
OpenAlexW2610697893

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.