Dementia risk reduction in the African context: Multi‐national implementation of multimodal strategies to promote healthy brain aging in Africa (the Africa‐FINGERS project)

Dementia prevention in Africa is critically underexplored, despite the continent's high prevalence of modifiable risk factors. With a predominantly young and middle-aged population, Africa presents a prime opportunity to implement evidence-based strategies that could significantly reduce future dementia cases and mitigate its economic impact. The multinational Africa-FINGERS program offers an innovative solution, pioneering culturally sensitive, multidomain interventions tailored to the unique challenges of the region. Leveraging insights from landmark global studies such as Worldwide-FINGERS and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the program employs a multideterminant precision prevention framework, grounded in community based systems dynamics. Africa-FINGERS further integrates cutting-edge state-of-the-art multimodal biomarker evaluations tailored to regional contexts, with the goal of advancing brain health and establishing a global standard for dementia prevention. This groundbreaking initiative highlights the potential for scalableand sustainable interventions, thus is poised to transform dementia risk reduction efforts across the continent. HIGHLIGHTS: Dementia rates are escalating in Africa, largely due to longer life spans and increased prevalence of modifiable risk factors. Yet, few regional interventions have directly targeted lifestyle factors to reduce dementia risk. The multinational Africa-FINGERS study will address this gap by adapting the successful FINGERS lifestyle intervention to African populations. Africa-FINGERS will pioneer a culturally informed, multidomain dementia risk reduction intervention in the African region through feasibility dementia prevention trials in rural and urban sites across Kenya and Nigeria in the first instance, enrolling 600 at-risk adults (≥ 50 years). The program adopts participatory research methods to develop culturally appropriate interventions and build infrastructure to evaluate dementia biomarkers from ante and post mortem samples. A cost-effectiveness analysis will be conducted to guide the strategic implementation of Africa-FINGERS into regional health systems. The Africa-FINGERS strategy aligns with the Worldwide-FINGERS framework and integrates the global Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative approach, emphasizing multimodal analysis.

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Publication Details

Journal
Alzheimer s & Dementia
Published
2024-11-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14344
Citations
14
Primary Topic
Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.89

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article

Dementia risk reduction in the African context: Multi‐national implementation of multimodal strategies to promote healthy brain aging in Africa (the Africa‐FINGERS project)

Roselyter Monchari Riang’a, Samuel Nguku, Udunna Anazodo, Robert Perneczky et al.
14 citations
Alzheimer s & Dementia
Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
11.89
article

Dementia risk reduction in the African context: Multi‐national implementation of multimodal strategies to promote healthy brain aging in Africa (the Africa‐FINGERS project)

Roselyter Monchari Riang’a, Samuel Nguku, Udunna Anazodo, Robert Perneczky, Thomas Thesen, Agustín M. Ibáñez, Celeste A. de Jager Loots, Tünde Pető, Imre Lengyel, Olivera Nesic‐Taylor, Rufus Akinyemi, Cyprian M. Mostert, Chinedu Udeh‐Momoh, Anthony Ngugi, Miia Kivipelto, Dimitra Kafetsouli, Adesola Ogunniyi, Lukoye Atwoli, Sheila Waa, Darina T. Bassil, Rachel Maina, Adedoyin Ogunyemi, Manasi Kumar, Karen Blackmon, Jasmit Shah, Lucía Crivelli, Linda Khakali, Laura D. Baker, Thomas K. Karikari, Edna Bosire, Victor Valcour, Jennifer S. Yokoyama, Francesca Mangialasche, Laz Ude Eze, Tamlyn Watermeyer, Njideka Okubadejo, Dominic Trépel, Sylvia Mbugua, Valentine Ucheagwu, Mansoor N. Saleh, Michelle M. Mielke, Ozioma C. Okonkwo, Zul Merali, Alina Solomon, Sheena Shah, Henrik Zetterberg, Gloria Chemutai, Eunice Muthoni, Shaheen Sayed
article en
14 citations

Abstract

Dementia prevention in Africa is critically underexplored, despite the continent's high prevalence of modifiable risk factors. With a predominantly young and middle-aged population, Africa presents a prime opportunity to implement evidence-based strategies that could significantly reduce future dementia cases and mitigate its economic impact. The multinational Africa-FINGERS program offers an innovative solution, pioneering culturally sensitive, multidomain interventions tailored to the unique challenges of the region. Leveraging insights from landmark global studies such as Worldwide-FINGERS and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the program employs a multideterminant precision prevention framework, grounded in community based systems dynamics. Africa-FINGERS further integrates cutting-edge state-of-the-art multimodal biomarker evaluations tailored to regional contexts, with the goal of advancing brain health and establishing a global standard for dementia prevention. This groundbreaking initiative highlights the potential for scalableand sustainable interventions, thus is poised to transform dementia risk reduction efforts across the continent. HIGHLIGHTS: Dementia rates are escalating in Africa, largely due to longer life spans and increased prevalence of modifiable risk factors. Yet, few regional interventions have directly targeted lifestyle factors to reduce dementia risk. The multinational Africa-FINGERS study will address this gap by adapting the successful FINGERS lifestyle intervention to African populations. Africa-FINGERS will pioneer a culturally informed, multidomain dementia risk reduction intervention in the African region through feasibility dementia prevention trials in rural and urban sites across Kenya and Nigeria in the first instance, enrolling 600 at-risk adults (≥ 50 years). The program adopts participatory research methods to develop culturally appropriate interventions and build infrastructure to evaluate dementia biomarkers from ante and post mortem samples. A cost-effectiveness analysis will be conducted to guide the strategic implementation of Africa-FINGERS into regional health systems. The Africa-FINGERS strategy aligns with the Worldwide-FINGERS framework and integrates the global Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative approach, emphasizing multimodal analysis.

Alzheimer s & DementiaVol. 20(12)
Dartmouth College (US), Queen's University Belfast (GB), Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Cape Town (ZA), University of Pittsburgh (US), University of Eastern Finland (FI), University of California, San Francisco (US), University of Ibadan (NG), University of Lagos (NG), Trinity College Dublin (IE), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NG), Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi (KE), Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SE), German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE), Harvard University Press (US), Karolinska Institutet (SE), Aga Khan University Nairobi (KE), Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva (AR), Houston Fertility Institute (US), UK Dementia Research Institute (GB), Aga Khan University (TZ), National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB), Global Brain Health Institute (US), Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (Canada) (CA), University College London (GB), Wake Forest University (US), Imperial College London (GB), McGill University (CA), New York University (US), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), University of Gothenburg (SE), University of Sheffield (GB), University of Edinburgh (GB)
Alzheimer's Association, UK Research and Innovation, Global Brain Health Institute, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, Rosetrees Trust, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council, Fogarty International Center, Defence and Security Accelerator, Fondo de Fomento al Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, Fondo de Financiamiento de Centros de Investigación en Áreas Prioritarias
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
11.89
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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