Brief report: Using the internet to identify persons with cognitive impairment for participation in clinical trials

Identifying, recruiting, and enrolling persons in clinical trials of dementia treatments is extremely difficult. One approach to first-wave screening of potential participants is the use of online assessment tools. Initial studies using the Dementia Risk Assessment (DRA)—which includes a previously validated recognition memory test—support the use of this self-administered assessment to identify individuals with “suspected MCI” or “suspected dementia.” In this study, we identified between 71 and 622 persons with suspected dementia and between 128 and 1653 persons with suspected mild cognitive impairment (depending on specific criteria) over the course of 22 months. Assessment tools that can inexpensively and easily identify individuals with higher than average risk for cognitive impairment can facilitate recruitment for large-scale clinical trials for dementia treatments.