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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-varying measurements; and (5) high-dimensional data. We explain why each challenge is important in dementia research and how it 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.
摘要：
痴呆和相关神经系统疾病的临床和人群研究，包括老年痴呆症,面临着几个独特的方法论挑战。确定预防和治疗策略的进展取决于有效和严格的分析方法，但研究文献反映出关于“最佳实践”的共识很少。“我们提出了一个大型科学工作组的研究结果，用于痴呆症的临床和人群研究的研究方法，它确定了以下五类方法论挑战：(1)减员/样本选择，包括选择性存活；(2)测量，包括诊断标准的不确定性，神经心理学评估中的测量误差，和实践或重新测试效果；（3）纵向模型的规范，当参与者被跟踪几个月，年,甚至几十年；(4)时变测量；(5)高维数据。我们解释了为什么每个挑战在痴呆症研究中都很重要，以及它如何影响将研究结果转化为有效的预防或护理策略。我们提出了一份潜在偏见来源的清单，在报告痴呆症研究时应经常解决这些问题。
