Amyloid and SCD jointly predict cognitive decline across Chinese and German cohorts

INTRODUCTION Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in amyloid-positive (Aβ+) individuals was proposed as a clinical indicator of Stage 2 in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum, but this requires further validation across cultures, measures, and recruitment strategies.

METHODS Eight hundred twenty-one participants from SILCODE and DELCODE cohorts, including normal controls (NC) and individuals with SCD recruited from the community or from memory clinics, underwent neuropsychological assessments over up to 6 years. Amyloid positivity was derived from positron emission tomography or plasma biomarkers. Global cognitive change was analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.

RESULTS In the combined and stratified cohorts, Aβ+ participants with SCD showed steeper cognitive decline or diminished practice effects compared with NC or Aβ− participants with SCD. These findings were confirmed using different operationalizations of SCD and amyloid positivity, and across different SCD recruitment settings.

DISCUSSION Aβ+ individuals with SCD in German and Chinese populations showed greater global cognitive decline and could be targeted for interventional trials.

Highlights SCD in amyloid-positive (Aβ+) participants predicts a steeper cognitive decline. This finding does not rely on specific SCD or amyloid operationalization. This finding is not specific to SCD patients recruited from memory clinics. This finding is valid in both German and Chinese populations. Aβ+ older adults with SCD could be a target population for interventional trials.