COMPASS-ND Study

The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) Study

COMPASS-ND is the signature clinical study of CCNA. By the end of 2023, close to 1,200 Canadians between the ages of 50 and 90 who are living with, or are at risk of developing, dementia are enrolled in over 30 sites across Canada. This 8.4 million dollar study is funded through the 31.5 million dollar grant to the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and 12 partner organizations from the public and private sectors.

The major goals of the study are:

  • To learn about who is at risk of developing dementia
  • To determine how early dementia can be detected
  • To find out what tests are most effective at detecting dementia

Accordingly, COMPASS-ND is designed to provide the data that will enable 14 out of 20 of CCNA’s research teams to address their hypotheses. Read the launch Q&A here.

Study Summary

The COMPASS-ND Study is an observational study of people with various types of dementia or cognitive complaints. The study collects clinical, neuropsychological, and MRI imaging data as well as blood, saliva, and urine samples from participants. Participants who are willing may undergo additional tests including: lumbar puncture, buccal swabs, fecal sample collection, and brain donation (after time of your death). Annual telephone checks will be conducted and the baseline procedures will be repeated after 2 years.

Articles published using COMPASS-ND data

  • Standing middle cerebral artery velocity predicts cognitive function and gait speed in older adults with cognitive impairment, and is impacted by sex differences, published in January 2024 in Cerebral Circulation – Cognition and Behavior
  • Machine learning analyses identify multi-modal frailty factors that selectively discriminate four cohorts in the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum: a COMPASS-ND study, published in December 2023 in BMC Geriatrics
  • Hearing loss is associated with decreased default-mode network connectivity in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, published in December 2023 in Neuroimage: Report
  • Gray matter loss relates to dual task gait in Lewy body disorders and aging, published in October 2023 in the Journal of Neurology
  • Sex-specific interactions between hearing and memory in older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Findings from the COMPASS-ND study, published in August 2023 in Ear and Hearing
  • Dual-task gait and white matter hyperintensities in Lewy body diseases: An exploratory analysis, published in April 2023 in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
  • Sex Moderates the Association between Frailty and Mild Behavioral Impairment, published in June 2022 in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease

 

Participant Groups

Neurodegeneration is an umbrella term comprising a variety of conditions. Participants with the following memory conditions are recruited into COMPASS-ND: cognitively unimpaired; subjective cognitive impairment; mild cognitive impairment (MCI); MCI with silent vascular lesions; Alzheimer’s disease; dementia of mixed etiology; frontotemporal dementia; and Lewy body spectrum disorders, which include Lewy body disease as well as Parkinson’s disease without and with cognitive impairment/dementia.

Up to now, most studies of age-related cognitive decline have focused on specific types of dementia in isolation. The goal of COMPASS-ND is to study dementia in all its forms, including cases where there are multiple pathologies involved, such as Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease, referred to as “mixed” dementia. This broad approach is being taken in order to investigate what these dementias have in common, as well as what differentiates them. Doing so will help in diagnosing, understanding, and working to prevent the onset of dementia in all its forms. In the case of mixed dementia, study results will help CCNA researchers examine the impacts of different pathologies alone and in combination, and their implications for disease course and treatment.

Site Details

Participants in COMPASS-ND are recruited from sites across Canada. There are currently COMPASS-ND data collection sites in Québec City, Sherbrooke, Montréal, Ottawa, Peterborough, Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo, London, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Victoria.

Data collection sites include memory clinics, stroke clinics, movement disorder clinics, and behavioural neurology clinics as well as both academic and private research groups.

Recruitment

Recruitment in the COMPASS-ND study is temporarily paused until spring 2024.

Please get in touch with us () to learn more about how to participate in Canada’s largest study on aging and dementia!

 

 

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