Dementia and cognitive decline are serious social and economic burdens. An increase in the population of older people, as well as longer lifespans mean that numbers of dementia cases are exponentially rising. Neuropathological changes associated with dementia are thought to appear before the clinical manifestation of cognitive symptoms, i.e., memory impairments. Further, some older adults (OA) experience cognitive decline before it can be objectively diagnosed. For optimal care of these patients, it is necessary to detect cognitive decline and dementia at an early stage. In this vein, motor, sensory, and neurophysiological declines could be promising factors if found to be present before the onset of cognitive impairment. Hence, the objective of the SENDA study is to develop a multi-dimensional sensor-based instrument that allows early detection of cognitive decline or dementia in OA with the help of cognitive, sensory, motor, and neurophysiological parameters before its clinical manifestation. In the cohort sequential study, participants are assigned to one of three study groups depending on their cognitive status: 1. cognitively healthy individuals (CHI), 2. subjectively cognitively impaired persons (SCI), or 3. (possible) mildly cognitively impaired persons (pMCI, MCI). All groups take part in the same cognitive (e.g., executive function tests), motor (e.g., gait analyses, balance tests), sensory (e.g., vibration perception threshold test, proprioception tests), and neurophysiological (e.g., electroencephalograms) measurements. Depending on the time at which participants are included into the study, all measurements are repeated up to four times in intervals of 8 months within 3 years to identify associations with cognitive changes over time. This study aims to detect possible motor, sensory, neurophysiological, and cognitive predictors to develop an early screening tool for dementia and its pre-stages in OA. Thus, affected persons could receive optimal health care at an earlier time point to maintain their health resources. The study is ongoing. The recruitment of participants will be continued until May 2020.

中文翻译：

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基于传感器的痴呆早期检测系统 (SENDA)：一项前瞻性队列序贯研究的研究方案。

痴呆症和认知能力下降是严重的社会和经济负担。老年人口的增加以及寿命的延长意味着痴呆症病例的数量呈指数增长。与痴呆相关的神经病理学变化被认为出现在认知症状即记忆障碍的临床表现之前。此外，一些老年人 (OA) 在客观诊断之前会出现认知能力下降。为了对这些患者进行最佳护理，有必要及早发现认知能力下降和痴呆症。在这种情况下，如果在认知障碍发作之前发现运动、感觉和神经生理学衰退可能是有希望的因素。因此，SENDA 研究的目的是开发一种基于传感器的多维仪器，该仪器可以在 OA 出现临床表现之前借助认知、感觉、运动和神经生理学参数及早检测认知能力下降或痴呆。在队列顺序研究中，参与者根据其认知状态被分配到三个研究组之一：1. 认知健康个体 (CHI)，2. 主观认知障碍者 (SCI)，或 3. （可能）轻度认知障碍者(pMCI，MCI)。所有组都参加相同的认知（例如，执行功能测试）、运动（例如，步态分析、平衡测试）、感觉（例如，振动感知阈值测试、本体感觉测试）和神经生理学（例如，脑电图）测量。根据参与者被纳入研究的时间，所有测量在 3 年内以 8 个月的间隔重复多达四次，以确定与认知变化随时间变化的关联。本研究旨在检测可能的运动、感觉、神经生理学和认知预测因子，以开发一种早期筛查工具，用于痴呆症及其在 OA 中的早期阶段。因此，受影响的人可以在更早的时间点获得最佳的医疗保健，以维持他们的卫生资源。该研究正在进行中。参与者的招募将持续到2020年5月。和认知预测因子，以开发痴呆症及其在 OA 中的早期筛查工具。因此，受影响的人可以在更早的时间点获得最佳的医疗保健，以维持他们的卫生资源。该研究正在进行中。参与者的招募将持续到2020年5月。和认知预测因子，以开发痴呆症及其在 OA 中的早期筛查工具。因此，受影响的人可以在更早的时间点获得最佳的医疗保健，以维持他们的卫生资源。该研究正在进行中。参与者的招募将持续到2020年5月。