JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the growing number of older adults in the Norwegian population and the associated rapid rise in dementia and cognitive impairment, novel and more efficient methodologies are needed to facilitate research, improve diagnostic triage and deliver effective brain health interventions in the community. PROTECT Norge is an online, remote research platform on the ageing brain, culturally adapted from the UK PROTECT study, incorporating a Norwegian cohort of adults aged 50 and over, where participants complete study activities via a dedicated website. Data were collected through study activities, which included self-reported questionnaires and a computerized neuropsychological test battery.

Objective:

To assess associations between dementia risk factors, including obesity, hypertension, smoking, and hearing loss, and cognition using baseline data from the PROTECT Norge study.

Methods:

Data from the PROTECT Norge study were used to assess associations between dementia risk factors and cognition. These associations were assessed using independent sample t-tests for each of the cognitive tests, which included Paired Associate Learning, Self-Ordered Search, Digit Span, and Verbal Reasoning tasks.

Results:

During the first two years of data collection, records from 3,214 participants were obtained. Associations between established risk factors and cognitive performance were found, with significant detriments on cognitive performance on the computerized neuropsychological test battery. In the PROTECT Norge cohort, consisting of 74.5% females and the mean age being 64.1 (SD 7.7) and 94% of participants provided consent for contact regarding future research.

Conclusions:

These data show the associations between dementia risk factors and cognition and attest to the excellent feasibility of the PROTECT Norge cohort – with over 3000 participants included over a period of two years and accessibility for people with early cognitive impairment. This, combined with cohort’s willingness to participate in future studies (94%) positions PROTECT Norge as a tremendous opportunity for cost-efficient, large-scale brain health research and potentially for clinical digital cognitive health programmes.