Determinants of Plasma Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker Use by Primary Care Providers and Dementia Specialists

Background

The efficiencies of plasma Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers could facilitate early AD diagnosis. Unfortunately, limited knowledge exists about whether and how they would be used by clinicians.

Objective

To identify and compare determinants of plasma AD biomarker use reported by primary care providers and dementia specialists.

Design

Semi-structured interviews with clinicians organized using Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory and analyzed using an iterative coding approach.

Participants

The subjects were internal and family medicine, neurology, and geriatrics providers with varying degrees of expertise in dementia diagnosis and care.

Main Measures

Factors influencing a clinician’s decision to use or not use plasma AD biomarkers in clinical practice.

Key Results

We interviewed 30 clinicians (16 family or internal medicine providers, 8 geriatricians, and 6 neurologists). Fifteen were dementia specialists. Hesitance to use plasma AD biomarkers was due to perceived lack of effective treatments for AD, limited access to supports, and stigma. Plasma AD biomarkers would be more readily adopted by clinicians with dementia expertise.

Conclusions

Several factors will influence clinical use of plasma AD biomarkers. Some of them may inform the design of interventions to promote the effective and appropriate clinical translation of these tests.