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-varyingmeasurements; and (5) high-dimensional
data.We explainwhy each challenge is important indementia research and howit 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.