The diagnosis of dementia due to Alzheimer's disease: Recommendations from the National Institute on Aging‐Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association charged a workgroup with the task of revising the 1984 criteria for Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. The workgroup sought to ensure that the revised criteria would be flexible enough to be used by both general healthcare providers without access to neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid measures, and specialized investigators involved in research or in clinical trial studies who would have these tools available. We present criteria for all‐cause dementia and for AD dementia. We retained the general framework of probable AD dementia from the 1984 criteria. On the basis of the past 27 years of experience, we made several changes in the clinical criteria for the diagnosis. We also retained the term possible AD dementia, but redefined it in a manner more focused than before. Biomarker evidence was also integrated into the diagnostic formulations for probable and possible AD dementia for use in research settings. The core clinical criteria for AD dementia will continue to be the cornerstone of the diagnosis in clinical practice, but biomarker evidence is expected to enhance the pathophysiological specificity of the diagnosis of AD dementia. Much work lies ahead for validating the biomarker diagnosis of AD dementia.

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Affiliated Institutions

• Massachusetts General Hospital US
• University of California, Irvine US
• Columbia University Irving Medical Center US
• Harvard University US
• Northwestern University US
• University of Pittsburgh US
• Johns Hopkins Medicine US
• Allen Institute for Brain Science US
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery GB
• University College London GB
• Alzheimer's Association US
• UK Dementia Research Institute GB
• National Institute on Aging US
• McGill University CA
• Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam NL
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke US
• Johns Hopkins University US
• Eli Lilly (United States) US
• Washington University in St. Louis US
• Mayo Clinic in Arizona US

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