International Labor Migration, Armed Conflict, and Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementia Risk in Nepal: 2022-ongoing

RATIONALE

Population aging is becoming increasingly more common in many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). As a result, these countries face the growing burden of common age-associated chronic illnesses, including Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD). Nepal is a low-middle-income country where the population is now aging, putting a rising number of adults at risk of developing ADRD. There is little or no research in Nepal to investigate the scope and primary determinants of ADRD, and even the most basic information on ADRD is currently lacking. There is an urgent need to build expertise in designing and conducting systematic population-level investigations of ADRD in Nepal. There is an equally urgent need to start collecting rigorous new data on the scope and determinants of ADRD and other aging-related changes in health to guide the development of prevention strategies and reduce the burden of ADRD in Nepal.

OBJECTIVES

1. Build research capacity for the conduct of studies of ADRD and other aging-related changes in health. Specific capacity-building activities focus on
   • the design and administration of culturally appropriate cognitive assessments to identify ADRD in the general population, and
   • building expertise in statistical methods for the analysis of longitudinal data from complex surveys.
2. Design and conduct a population-based study of ADRD and other age-associated conditions of adults aged > 50 years and complete a baseline interview and one follow-up interview two years later with these adults and informants/caregivers.
3. Estimate the prevalence and incidence of ADRD and its primary clinical feature: cognitive impairment; test associations between primary risk factors and ADRD/cognitive impairment and other relevant outcomes (e.g., disability, caregiving needs) at baseline and follow-up.

METHODOLOGY

Study design

This is a longitudinal cohort study of a representative sample of 4,000 older adults aged >50 and their 4,000 key informants/caregivers from the Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS) panel, based on a stratified two-stage cluster area probability sampling.

Survey Data Collection

Using Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) instruments, face-to-face Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) is administered on tablets. The interview includes a series of cognitive and physical function tests, standardized self-report instruments and measures, a brief informant interview, and an assessment of weight, height, and blood pressure.

Biomarker Data Collection

A team of licensed and trained phlebotomists draw 32.5 ml of blood during the single blood draw using a vacuum extraction system.

FINDINGS

Data

Data will be available upon completion.

Publications

No publications yet.