Digital device application for cognitive decline risk identification
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of a new digital device application to assess cognitive decline risk in healthy ageing: Normative data collection
IRAS ID
295855
Contact name
Ivan Koychev
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
SharpTx
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
To be confirmed , To be confirmed
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Dementia is the biggest health challenge for ageing populations, with the number of patients affected set to treble by 2050. Dementia detection is a growing issue, as evidenced by the increasing waiting times for NHS Memory Clinic assessments. Research conducted by Alzheimer’s Research UK found that 74% of the public would be happy to take a test to evaluate their risk of being at an early stage of dementia.
SharpTx’s mission is to improve the quality of life and improve brain health outcomes for millions of people in the next decades by detecting cognitive decline earlier than current methods and allowing targeted lifestyle risk factor interventions. SharpTx is aiming to validate its digital assessment, which comprises a selection of cognitive tests and questionnaires, the design and choice of which were based on the latest academic research into risk factors for cognitive decline. Our long-term aim for the Sharp assessment is to provide personalised guidance on control of preventable brain health risk factors and to provide feedback on the adherence to such guidance.
In this part of the research, we aim to build a normative database of healthy ageing individuals as the basis for future studies in clinical populations. This study will recruit healthy ageing adults from the Dementias Platform UK Great Minds clinical volunteer register (ethics reference 18/SC/0268) for an online-only study to validate the digital device application.
The main research aims are:
1. To establish normative data for the Sharp assessment in healthy ageing.2. To uncover any potential usability, feasibility and/or accessibility issues with the Sharp assessment.
3. To establish the test-retest reliability of the Sharp cognitive assessment.
4. To establish the validity of the cognitive test included in the Sharp assessment by comparing its performance to a gold standard for digital cognitive assessment (Cambridge Cognition PAL task).
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0053
Date of REC Opinion
15 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion