ReviewAlzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)2018
The hidden variables problem in Alzheimer's disease clinical trial design.
Review in Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Exploring the Etiological Links behind Neurodegenerative Diseases: Inflammatory Cytokines and Bioactive Kynurenines.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Pooled it
- The efficacy of exergaming in people with major neurocognitive disorder residing in long-term care facilities: a pilot randomized controlled trial.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2021Trial
- Body weight trajectories from midlife are associated with cognitive decline in advanced age.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Relationship Between Cognitive Performance, Physical Activity, and Socio-Demographic/Individual Characteristics Among Aging Americans.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2023Article
- Physical activity monitoring in Alzheimer's disease during sport interventions: a multi-methodological perspective.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Independent replication of advanced brain age in mild cognitive impairment and dementia: detection of future cognitive dysfunction.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Article
- Drug delivery of memantine with carbon dots for Alzheimer's disease: blood-brain barrier penetration and inhibition of tau aggregation.Journal of colloid and interface science · 2022Article
- Brain energy rescue: an emerging therapeutic concept for neurodegenerative disorders of ageing.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2020Review
- The brains of aged mice are characterized by altered tissue diffusion properties and cerebral microbleeds.Journal of translational medicine · 2020Article
- Neurotrophic Factors Mediated Activation of Astrocytes Ameliorate Memory Loss by Amyloid Clearance after Transplantation of Lineage Negative Stem Cells.Molecular neurobiology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
As the leading cause of dementia worldwide, Alzheimer's disease has garnered intense academic and clinical interest. Yet, trials in search of a disease-modifying therapy have failed overwhelmingly. We suggest that, in part, this may be attributable to the influence of disruptive variables inherent to the framework of a clinical trial. Specifically, we observe that everyday factors such as diet, education, mental exertion, leisure participation, multilingualism, sleep, trauma, and physical activity, as well as clinical/study parameters including environment, family coaching, concurrent medications, and illnesses may serve as potent confounders, disruptors, or sources of bias to an otherwise significant drug-disease interaction. This perspective briefly summarizes the potential influence of these hidden variables on the outcomes of clinical trials and suggests strategies to abate their impact.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.