Racial disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD): Correlating a novel neuropsychological screening test to established AD fluid and imaging biomarkers in African Americans and Caucasians

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a commonly used screening tool for the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The current cut‐off threshold for detection of MCI on the MoCA increases risk for false positives, particularly in ethnic minorities and those of lower educational attainment. African Americans (AA) have experienced inaccurate detection of MCI and AD, leading to a delay in diagnosis and a decreased enrollment in AD‐related clinical trials. This underscores the importance of clarified cut‐offs for AD plasma biomarkers in AA and a standardized cognitive screening test independent of language and cultural norms. The Visual‐based Cognitive Assessment Test (VCAT) is a newly developed language‐neutral cognitive screening test that has good sensitivity (85.6%) and specificity (81.1%) in diagnosing MCI and mild AD. Our study will correlate VCAT scores to MRI brain findings and established AD plasma biomarkers in AA and Caucasians with and without cardiovascular diseases (i.e. prior myocardial infarction, stroke, and chronic kidney disease).