Cross-sectional and longitudinal characterization of SCD patients recruited from the community versus from a memory clinic: subjective cognitive decline, psychoaffective factors, cognitive performances, and atrophy progression over time

• Published in: Alzheimer's research & therapy Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 61
• Main Authors: Kuhn, Elizabeth, Moulinet, Inès, Perrotin, Audrey, La Joie, Renaud, Landeau, Brigitte, Tomadesso, Clémence, Bejanin, Alexandre, Sherif, Siya, De La Sayette, Vincent, Desgranges, Béatrice, Vivien, Denis, Poisnel, Géraldine, Chételat, Gaëlle
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 08.07.2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Advertising executives; Aging; Alzheimer's disease; Anxiety; Atrophy; Bioengineering; Biological markers; Biomarkers; Care and treatment; Cognition; Cognitive ability; Complaints; Dementia; Elderly; Geriatry and gerontology; Glucose; Glucose metabolism; Human health and pathology; Human health sciences; Imaging; Life Sciences; Medical imaging; Memory; Mental depression; Neuroimaging; Neurons and Cognition; Older people; Pathological ageing; Positron emission tomography; Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; Psychoaffective factors; Psychology and behavior; Public relations executives; Questionnaires; Risk factors; Sciences de la santé humaine; Subjective cognitive decline; France; Neuroimaging; Biomarkers; Pathological ageing; Subjective cognitive decline; Psychoaffective factors; Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease
• ISSN: 1758-9193; 1758-9193
• DOI: 10.1186/s13195-019-0514-z

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) defines a heterogeneous population, part of which having Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed at characterizing SCD populations according to whether or not they referred to a memory clinic, by assessing the factors associated with increased AD risk. Seventy-eight cognitively unimpaired older adults from the IMAP+ study (Caen) were included, amongst which 28 healthy controls (HC) and 50 SCD recruited from the community (SCD-community; n = 23) or from a memory clinic (SCD-clinic; n = 27). Participants underwent cognitive, psychoaffective, structural MRI, FDG-PET, and amyloid-PET assessments. They were followed up over a mean period of 2.4 ± 0.8 years. The groups were compared in terms of baseline and follow-up levels of SCD (self- and informant-reported), cognition, subclinical anxiety and depression, and atrophy progression over time. We also investigated SCD substrates within each SCD group through the correlations between self-reported SCD and other psychometric and brain measures. Compared to HC, both SCD groups showed similar cognitive performances but higher informant-reported SCD and anxiety. Compared to SCD-community, SCD-clinic showed higher informant-reported SCD, depression score, and atrophy progression over time but similar brain amyloid load. A significant increase over time was found for depression in the SCD-community and for self-reported praxis-domestic activities SCD factor in the SCD-clinic. Higher self-reported SCD correlated with (i) lower grey matter volume and higher anxiety in SCD-community, (ii) greater informant-reported SCD in SCD-clinic, and (iii) lower glucose metabolism in both SCD groups. Higher subclinical depression and informant-reported SCD specifically characterize the SCD group that refers to a memory clinic. The same group appears as a frailer population than SCD-community as they show greater atrophy progression over time. Yet, both the SCD groups were quite similar otherwise including for brain amyloid load and the SCD-community showed increased depression score over time. Altogether, our findings highlight the relevance of assessing psychoaffective factors and informant-reported SCD in SCD populations and point to both differences and similarities in SCD populations referring or not to a memory clinic.