Amyloid-β PET Scan Results Disclosure and Care-Partner Emotional Well-Being Over Time

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Gerontology
• Psychology

Background:

• Diagnostic tests like amyloid-β positron emission tomography (PET) scans aid in managing cognitive decline.
• Understanding the impact of these diagnostic tools on care-partner outcomes is crucial for evaluating their full utility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the disclosure of elevated amyloid levels (suggestive of Alzheimer's disease) versus not-elevated levels affects care-partner wellbeing.
• To assess changes in care-partner depressive symptoms, subjective burden, and loneliness based on amyloid PET scan results.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal survey data from 921 Medicare beneficiaries with mild cognitive impairment or dementia and their care-partners.
• Care-partner wellbeing assessed using the PHQ-8 for depressive symptoms, Zarit burden score for subjective burden, and a 3-item loneliness measure.
• Changes in wellbeing measured between 4 and 18 months post-scan result disclosure using adjusted linear regression models.

Main Results:

• Care-partners were predominantly white, non-Hispanic, college-educated, and married.
• No statistically significant differences in initial outcomes were observed based on amyloid scan results.
• Elevated amyloid levels were not associated with significant changes in depressive symptoms, subjective burden, or loneliness over time.

Conclusions:

• Current amyloid-β PET scan results do not appear to influence care-partner wellbeing in this cohort.
• Future research should focus on diverse populations to fully understand the influence of biomarker testing on care-partner outcomes.
• Advances in Alzheimer's disease biomarker testing necessitate broader studies on care-partner support and outcomes.