Alzheimer's Disease in Africa: A Scoping Review Protocol

Background and Aims: The global burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is set to increase in the next three decades particularly because of the global increase in life expectancy. The state of AD in Africa is a cause for concern because the continent's rapid population growth and demographic transition will be major contributors to AD's increased global burden. This scoping review aims to investigate the following: the extent of AD research in Africa, the major contributors, key research trends, areas that require further investigation. By addressing these questions, this review will help map out existing literature and highlight areas needing further investigation. Methods: The scoping review will follow the outline for scoping reviews by Arskey and O'Malley and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. Following the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR 2) guidelines with adaptations for scoping reviews, articles reporting on epidemiology, management, or study of AD in Africa will be assessed. Articles reporting on epidemiology, management, or study of AD in Africa will be searched using the following databases: PubMed, Medline, OVID, Embase, African Journal Online, the Global Health Index Medicus, and Google Scholar. The articles will be searched from database inception to date. The results will be uploaded to Rayyan where the articles will be deduplicated, and each title and abstract will be reviewed individually by four researchers. Two researchers will independently read and analyze all eligible full-text articles. Conclusion: This review aims to map the existing literature on AD in Africa by identifying contributors to AD research in Africa, identifying research trends, and areas that require further investigation. Data obtained from this study will help guide future research efforts on AD in Africa and help guide context-based interventions, addressing hypothesized regional disparities in AD burden and research, which would ultimately improve the outcomes of patients with AD within the continent.