Challenges to recruitment of participants with MCI in a multicentric neuropsychological study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Data on recruitment of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) samples are seldom reported and this issue can be an important source of research waste. AIM: To describe the recruitment challenges and reasons for non-eligibility faced during a bi-centre clinical study assessing the predictive value of a neuropsychological battery of the progression to dementia. METHODS: Potential MCI participants were identified from databases of the two memory clinics based in Milan (Italy) and invited to the screening assessment. RESULTS: About 50% of the cases initially identified were ineligible according to inclusion/exclusion criteria and the two sites took 22 months to recruit the planned 150 people. The main reasons for non-eligibility were the MMSE score (41%), age (14%), presence of cerebrovascular disorders (9%), perceptual deficits (6%), neurological (6%) or psychiatric (4%) comorbidities and low education (5%). CONCLUSION: Awareness of the reasons for exclusion and of the time needed to recruit the planned sample would provide hints for the planning of future studies on MCI.