Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Test Could ID Alzheimer Disease

WEDNESDAY, June 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- There is an association between simulated real-life instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and interactions of amyloid and early tau accumulation among cognitively normal older adults, according to a study published online May 18 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Christopher Gonzalez, from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and colleagues examined the cross-sectional relationship between a performance-based IADL test, the Harvard Automated Phone Task (APT), and cerebral tau and amyloid burden among 77 cognitively normal older adults. IADL were assessed using the three Harvard APT tasks: prescription refill, health insurance company call, and bank transaction (APT-Script, APT-PCP, and APT-Bank).

The researchers identified a significant association between APT-Bank task rate and the interaction between amyloid and entorhinal cortex tau, and a significant association between APT-PCP task and interactions between amyloid and inferior temporal and precuneus tau. The APT tasks were not significantly associated with tau or amyloid alone.

"Although these findings are preliminary, they signal that there is an association between an objective measurement of instrumental activities of daily living (i.e., the Harvard APT task) and the interaction of tau and amyloid in a sample of cognitively normal older adults," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Having a task like the Harvard APT could better capture an individual's overall ability to complete complex everyday tasks rather than the questionnaires that are given to patients and their informants to better understand the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease."

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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