Image

Abstract

There are estimated to be around 50 million people living with dementia globally, by 2030 this is expected to exceed 80 million and by 2050 more the 150 million. Research shows that lifestyle risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, such as obesity, physical and cognitive inactivity are thought to account for between 30 to 50% of all cases worldwide. One group with the highest risk of progressing to dementia are those experiencing cognitive decline, which is thought to be one of the first symptoms of dementia. It is imperative that we develop interventions to reduce the number of people developing dementia.

The Body, Brain, Life for Cognitive Decline (BBL-CD) is the fourth in a series of multidomain dementia risk reduction RCTs conducted at CRAHW. Prior BBLs have had a primary prevention focus (prevention before symptoms occur) whereas this is the first BBL to have a secondary prevention focus (prevention as symptoms begin to occur). It adapts prior BBLs to an older population, over the age of 65 years, experiencing cognitive decline. BBL-CD focusses on Mediterranean diet, physical activity and cognitive engagement to reduce the lifestyle risk of dementia. This presentation will provide an overview of most important findings from the four papers comprising this PhD by publication:

• Protocol: Methodological aspects
• Primary Outcomes: Lifestyle risk factors (ANU-ADRI) and cognitive outcomes.
• Health-Related Quality of Life: SF-36 and SF-6D outcomes.
• Feasibility: Participant retention, compliance, and adherence.

Bio 

Mitchell has a background in Neuroscience and Psychology. Prior to commencing his PhD, he was a Senior Research Officer and Project Manager at the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. Whilst undertaking his PhD, he was a Trial Manger for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT) at the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Cognitive Health, ANU.

Mitchell’s PhD scholarship was awarded from the Dementia Australia Research Foundation and Australian National University. The project, BBL-CD has won competitive awards from the Royal Commonwealth Society and Neuroscience Research Australia. The recent publication of the primary outcomes of the project received significant media attention including national newspaper, radio and TV coverage. The article achieved an Altmetric score of 194, placing it in the 99^th percentile of all tracked publications