Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study

BackgroundSleep holds promise as a modifiable risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. Clinical trials to modify sleep in people at risk of or in the early stages of dementia are needed. Monitoring natural sleep from home could support pragmatic and decentrali...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Victoria Grace Gabb, Jonathan Blackman, Hamish Morrison, Haoxuan Li, Adrian Kendrick, Nicholas Turner, Rosemary Greenwood, Bijetri Biswas, Amanda Heslegrave, Elizabeth Coulthard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2025-05-01
Series:JMIR Aging
Online Access:https://aging.jmir.org/2025/1/e72824
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849689776812195840
author Victoria Grace Gabb
Jonathan Blackman
Hamish Morrison
Haoxuan Li
Adrian Kendrick
Nicholas Turner
Rosemary Greenwood
Bijetri Biswas
Amanda Heslegrave
Elizabeth Coulthard
author_facet Victoria Grace Gabb
Jonathan Blackman
Hamish Morrison
Haoxuan Li
Adrian Kendrick
Nicholas Turner
Rosemary Greenwood
Bijetri Biswas
Amanda Heslegrave
Elizabeth Coulthard
author_sort Victoria Grace Gabb
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundSleep holds promise as a modifiable risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. Clinical trials to modify sleep in people at risk of or in the early stages of dementia are needed. Monitoring natural sleep from home could support pragmatic and decentralized large-scale clinical trials. However, whether longitudinal sleep research can be successfully delivered remotely in this population has not been established yet. ObjectiveWe investigated the feasibility of remote longitudinal research using wearable devices, web-based cognitive tasks, and a smartphone app to record sleep and cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. MethodsOlder adults with MCI or dementia due to Alzheimer disease or Lewy body disease and cognitively healthy participants completed at-home sleep and circadian monitoring (digital sleep diaries, actigraphy, wearable sleep electroencephalography, and saliva samples) and digital cognitive assessments for 8 weeks. Feasibility outcomes included recruitment, retention, and data completeness. ResultsIn total, 41 participants consented (n=10, 24% participants with Alzheimer disease; n=11, 27% participants with Lewy body disease; and n=20, 49% controls). There were predominantly male and White British participants, with a mean age of 70.9 (SD 5.9) years. Retention was very high, with 40 (98%) participants completing 8 weeks of remote monitoring. Data completeness for sleep electroencephalography was 91% and ranged from 79% to 97% for all remote tasks and was overall high across all participant subgroups. In total, 30% (12/40) of participants reported receiving external support with completing study tasks. ConclusionsHigh rates of retention, data completeness, and data quality suggested that longitudinal multimodal sleep and cognitive profiling using novel and remote monitoring technology is feasible in older adults with MCI and dementia and healthy older adults, even without study partner support. Remote monitoring should be considered for mechanistic and interventional trials. Careful consideration should be given to how to ensure remote monitoring technologies reduce burden and enhance inclusivity, particularly in communities traditionally underserved by research and those with lower digital literacy. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/52652
format Article
id doaj-art-e3b62920e4f64fecb7449456e2e47521
institution DOAJ
issn 2561-7605
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher JMIR Publications
record_format Article
series JMIR Aging
spelling doaj-art-e3b62920e4f64fecb7449456e2e475212025-08-20T03:21:31ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Aging2561-76052025-05-018e7282410.2196/72824Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort StudyVictoria Grace Gabbhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7688-766XJonathan Blackmanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9579-9860Hamish Morrisonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9358-7936Haoxuan Lihttps://orcid.org/0009-0008-7120-8657Adrian Kendrickhttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-2291-8272Nicholas Turnerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1591-6997Rosemary Greenwoodhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6637-5225Bijetri Biswashttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3995-2693Amanda Heslegravehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7290-6405Elizabeth Coulthardhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0017-9595 BackgroundSleep holds promise as a modifiable risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. Clinical trials to modify sleep in people at risk of or in the early stages of dementia are needed. Monitoring natural sleep from home could support pragmatic and decentralized large-scale clinical trials. However, whether longitudinal sleep research can be successfully delivered remotely in this population has not been established yet. ObjectiveWe investigated the feasibility of remote longitudinal research using wearable devices, web-based cognitive tasks, and a smartphone app to record sleep and cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. MethodsOlder adults with MCI or dementia due to Alzheimer disease or Lewy body disease and cognitively healthy participants completed at-home sleep and circadian monitoring (digital sleep diaries, actigraphy, wearable sleep electroencephalography, and saliva samples) and digital cognitive assessments for 8 weeks. Feasibility outcomes included recruitment, retention, and data completeness. ResultsIn total, 41 participants consented (n=10, 24% participants with Alzheimer disease; n=11, 27% participants with Lewy body disease; and n=20, 49% controls). There were predominantly male and White British participants, with a mean age of 70.9 (SD 5.9) years. Retention was very high, with 40 (98%) participants completing 8 weeks of remote monitoring. Data completeness for sleep electroencephalography was 91% and ranged from 79% to 97% for all remote tasks and was overall high across all participant subgroups. In total, 30% (12/40) of participants reported receiving external support with completing study tasks. ConclusionsHigh rates of retention, data completeness, and data quality suggested that longitudinal multimodal sleep and cognitive profiling using novel and remote monitoring technology is feasible in older adults with MCI and dementia and healthy older adults, even without study partner support. Remote monitoring should be considered for mechanistic and interventional trials. Careful consideration should be given to how to ensure remote monitoring technologies reduce burden and enhance inclusivity, particularly in communities traditionally underserved by research and those with lower digital literacy. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/52652https://aging.jmir.org/2025/1/e72824
spellingShingle Victoria Grace Gabb
Jonathan Blackman
Hamish Morrison
Haoxuan Li
Adrian Kendrick
Nicholas Turner
Rosemary Greenwood
Bijetri Biswas
Amanda Heslegrave
Elizabeth Coulthard
Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study
JMIR Aging
title Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study
title_full Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study
title_fullStr Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study
title_full_unstemmed Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study
title_short Longitudinal Remote Sleep and Cognitive Research in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective Feasibility Cohort Study
title_sort longitudinal remote sleep and cognitive research in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia prospective feasibility cohort study
url https://aging.jmir.org/2025/1/e72824
work_keys_str_mv AT victoriagracegabb longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT jonathanblackman longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT hamishmorrison longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT haoxuanli longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT adriankendrick longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT nicholasturner longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT rosemarygreenwood longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT bijetribiswas longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT amandaheslegrave longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy
AT elizabethcoulthard longitudinalremotesleepandcognitiveresearchinolderadultswithmildcognitiveimpairmentanddementiaprospectivefeasibilitycohortstudy