MyCOACH (COnnected Advice for Cognitive Health): a digitally delivered multidomain intervention for cognitive decline and risk of dementia in adults with mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive decline-study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Jessica G Amos; Lidan Zheng; Ranmalee Eramudugolla; Dinaz Parekh; Md Hamidul Huque; Kim Delbaere; Nicola Lautenschlager; Kaarin J Anstey

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075015

MyCOACH (COnnected Advice for Cognitive Health): a digitally delivered multidomain intervention for cognitive decline and risk of dementia in adults with mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive decline-study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BMJ Open. 2023 Oct 30;13(10):e075015. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075015.

Authors

Jessica G Amos^{1

2

3}, Lidan Zheng^{1

2

3}, Ranmalee Eramudugolla^{1

2

3}, Dinaz Parekh², Md Hamidul Huque^{1

2

3}, Kim Delbaere^{2

3

4}, Nicola Lautenschlager^{3

5

6}, Kaarin J Anstey^{7

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
³ UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ Academic Unit of Psychiatry of Old Age, University of Melbourne, Kew, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ NorthWestern Mental Health, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia k.anstey@unsw.edu.au.

Abstract

Introduction: Digital health interventions are cost-effective and easily accessible, but there is currently a lack of effective online options for dementia prevention especially for people at risk due to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or subjective cognitive decline (SCD).

Methods and analysis: MyCOACH (COnnected Advice for Cognitive Health) is a tailored online dementia risk reduction programme for adults aged ≥65 living with MCI or SCD. The MyCOACH trial aims to evaluate the programme's effectiveness in reducing dementia risk compared with an active control over a 64-week period (N=326). Eligible participants are randomly allocated to one of two intervention arms for 12 weeks: (1) the MyCOACH intervention programme or (2) email bulletins with general healthy ageing information (active control). The MyCOACH intervention programme provides participants with information about memory impairments and dementia, memory strategies and different lifestyle factors associated with brain ageing as well as practical support including goal setting, motivational interviewing, brain training, dietary and exercise consultations, and a 26-week post-intervention booster session. Follow-up assessments are conducted for all participants at 13, 39 and 65 weeks from baseline, with the primary outcome being exposure to dementia risk factors measured using the Australian National University-Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index. Secondary measures include cognitive function, quality of life, functional impairment, motivation to change behaviour, self-efficacy, morale and dementia literacy.

Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was obtained from the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee (HC210012, 19 February 2021). The results of the study will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and research conferences.

Trial registration number: ACTRN12621000977875.

Keywords: Aging; Clinical Trial; Dementia; PREVENTIVE MEDICINE; PUBLIC HEALTH.

Publication types

Clinical Trial Protocol
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Australia
Cognition
Cognitive Dysfunction* / prevention & control
Cognitive Dysfunction* / psychology
Dementia* / prevention & control
Humans
Quality of Life
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Associated data

ANZCTR/ACTRN12621000977875