Psychological impact of the use of blood-based biomarkers for mild cognitive impairment in primary care

BackgroundBlood-based biomarker testing in primary care could contribute to the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The usefulness of using blood-based biomarker in the primary care has evaluated, but their psychological impact has not been examined.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study is to investigate the psychological impact of disclosing results to patients and evaluate the changes in confidence of diagnoses by physicians. As a secondary objective, we compare the psychological impact with positron emission tomography.MethodsThis study included adults aged ≥50 years with suspected mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. In total, 97 were analyzed in this study. All participants underwent blood-based biomarker testing and the results were disclosed by primary care physicians or specialists. Psychological impact was measured using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised 1 week after disclosure. Physician diagnostic confidence, changes in diagnosis and management actions were also recorded.ResultsNineteen participants had negative blood-based biomarker results but positive PET results. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised scores were low after blood-based biomarker disclosure and did not differ by health care provider. Blood-based biomarker results prompted changes in diagnosis in 41.9% of cases. The diagnostic confidence increased after disclosure of the blood-based biomarker. Physicians reported a moderate/strong impact on management in 81.5% of cases after the disclosure of blood-based biomarkers.ConclusionsIn this study, blood-based biomarker result disclosure to patients with mild cognitive impairment had minimal short-term psychological burden and informed clinical decisions. These findings support the integration of blood-based biomarker testing into dementia care.