title: Guidelines for reporting methodological challenges and evaluating potential bias in dementia research.
abstract: Clinical and population research on dementia and related neurologic conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, faces several unique methodological challenges. Progress to identify preventive and therapeutic strategies rests on valid and rigorous analytic approaches, but the research literature reflects little consensus on "best practices." We present findings from a large scientific working group on research methods for clinical and population studies of dementia, which identified five categories of methodological challenges as follows: (1) attrition/sample selection, including selective survival; (2) measurement, including uncertainty in diagnostic criteria, measurement error in neuropsychological assessments, and practice or retest effects; (3) specification of longitudinal models when participants are followed for months, years, or even decades; (4) time-varying measurements; and (5) high-dimensional data. We explain why each challenge is important in dementia research and how it could compromise the translation of research findings into effective prevention or care strategies. We advance a checklist of potential sources of bias that should be routinely addressed when reporting dementia research.
authors.affiliation: Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weuve
authors.affiliation: INSERM U897, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Center, Bordeaux School of Public Health, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Proust-Lima
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Melinda C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Power
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Alden L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.affiliation: INSERM U897, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Center, Bordeaux School of Public Health, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France; Clinical Investigation Center-Clinical Epidemiology-CIC-1401 of INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France; Bordeaux University Hospital (Public Health Department), Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Rodolphe
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thiébaut
authors.affiliation: INSERM U897, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Center, Bordeaux School of Public Health, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France; Clinical Investigation Center-Clinical Epidemiology-CIC-1401 of INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France; Bordeaux University Hospital (Public Health Department), Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chêne
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Heath, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: M Maria
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Glymour
authors.affiliation: INSERM U897, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Center, Bordeaux School of Public Health, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France; Clinical Investigation Center-Clinical Epidemiology-CIC-1401 of INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France; Bordeaux University Hospital (Public Health Department), Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: carole.dufouil@inserm.fr.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dufouil
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012107:Research Design
keywords: Alzheimer disease; Big data; Brain imaging; Dementia; Epidemiologic factors; Genomics; Longitudinal studies; Neuropsychological tests; Selection bias; Statistical models; Survival bias