Informing cognitively healthy research participants of modifiable dementia risk factors: Ethical implications

Research has shown that up to 40% of dementia incidence can be accounted for by 12 modifiable lifestyle risk factors. However, the predictive value of these risks factors at an individual level remains uncertain. Ethical considerations that are typically invoked with respect to the disclosure of individual research results-beneficence and non-maleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice-do not provide conclusive justification for, or against, disclosing modifiable risk factors for future dementia to cognitively unimpaired research participants. We argue for a different approach to evaluating the disclosure of individual-level modifiable risk factors for dementia. Rather than focusing on individual-level disease prediction and prevention, we suggest that disclosure should be evaluated based on the impact of behavioral and lifestyle changes on current brain health.