ToolBox Detect: Low Cost Detection of Cognitive Decline in Primary Care Settings

August 21, 2026 updated by: Michael S. Wolf, Northwestern University
Our study objective is to widely implement and evaluate a user-centered, scalable, electronic health record (EHR)-linked strategy for the routine detection of cognitive decline among diverse primary care settings. This strategy, called ToolboxDetect, will provide an efficient and sensitive cognitive screen that can be easily implemented in everyday clinical settings, and is responsive to patient, family, and caregiver concerns for potential symptoms of cognitive decline (CD) and cognitive impairment (CI).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Our study objective is to widely implement and evaluate a user-centered, scalable, electronic health record (EHR)-linked strategy for the routine detection of cognitive decline among diverse primary care settings. We will conduct a large-scale, primary care practice-randomized trial to implement and comprehensively evaluate ToolboxDetect as a standard of care with AWVs, linked to an EHR (Epic). Diverse, academic and community settings are included to optimize future dissemination efforts.

ToolboxDetect is an iPad-based, self-administered assessment that leverages two well validated measures from the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery: Dimensional Change Card Sorting (for executive function) and the Picture Sequence Memory (for episodic memory). It takes approximately 7-8 minutes to administer, and for practices randomized to the ToolboxDetect arm, this will be used as the practice standard to fulfill the requirement for cognitive testing as part of the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV).

The aims of our investigation are to:

  1. Evaluate the effectiveness of ToolboxDetect, compared to enhanced usual care, to promote timely detection of cognitive decline and its care management.
  2. Disseminate and implement ToolboxDetect among a large Federally Qualified Health Center Network and assess its feasibility and acceptability for use;
  3. Investigate the fidelity of ToolboxDetect, and identify any patient, caregiver, healthcare provider and/or system barriers to its optimal, sustained implementation;
  4. Determine costs associated with implementing ToolboxDetect from a primary care perspective.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
35403

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Northwestern University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Individuals aged 65 and older will be considered.
  2. Adults who may or may not have cognitive impairments.
  3. Practices affiliated with Northwestern Medicine and Access Community Health Network.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Severe, uncorrectable vision or hearing impairment

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: ToolboxDetect Strategy

All practices randomized to the intervention arm will implement the ToolboxDetect battery as the standard of care routine cognitive assessment to fulfill the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) requirement. The 7-8 minute ToolboxDetect battery contains self-administered versions of the NIH ToolBox Picture Sequence Memory Test (PSM) and the NIH ToolBox Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS). PSM measures episodic memory and DCCS tests executive functioning.

The validated ToolboxDetect application will be imparted either as an application on an iPad or on a PC desktop/laptop computer commonly found in a clinical exam room for EHR access.
Other: ToolboxDetect
The clinician or staff member will identify the patient by either scanning a barcode or entering his/her name, age and medical record number on an administrative screen (allowing for proper routing of test results). After completing the test, a 'submit' button will automatically generate a secure HL7 message, sharing 1) a binary classification of the results ('impaired cognition' or 'normal function'), 2) the quantitative ToolboxDetect score, and 3) brief clinical decision support to rule out any reversible causes. These results will be linked to a discrete, queriable, Epic SmartData element. As patients undergo multiple AWVs over time, ToolboxDetect quantitative scores will be displayed in Epic Synopsis Activity, a graphical display that can visualize trend data (e.g. patient vitals) and calculate a percentage change from the prior year. This will allow a clinician to establish a patient's own baseline (instead of using normative data only) for reference.
No Intervention: Enhanced Usual Care

At Northwestern Medicine, cognitive assessments included in Annual Wellness Visits or other routine or sick/problem-based visits vary by practice and also by clinician. However, the choice of test was limited to either a Mini-Cog©, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), or Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE).

While we will not make any explicit recommendations to these practices with regard to their use of a cognitive assessment, we will ensure that 1) any chosen test is linked to an Epic SmartData element, which will allow the clinician to record the results of the test as discrete data (which can then be queried), and that 2) providers receive a compiled list of local medical and non-medical referrals for any detected cases of CI. The Alzheimer's Association recommendations for early detection efforts among primary care practices will also be provided to each clinic's medical leadership.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rate of detected impairment
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
This will be operationalized as either results of an any administered cognitive test suggesting impairment ('detected'), or having any relevant ICD 10 classification code recorded in a patient's record after the trial launch date and throughout follow-up observation period ('diagnosis').
Up to 3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rate of cognitive testing
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Extraction from the enterprise data warehouse (EDW) of elements used to document cognitive assessment
Up to 3 years
Rate of detected cases with mild impairment
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Mild vs. other impairment rates will be compared across trial arms, operationalized by ICD code groupings.
Up to 3 years
Rate of cognition-related referrals
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Extraction from the electronic data warehouse for whether or not a cognitive-related referral was made (medical or non-medical) following a "detected" cognitive screen
Up to 3 years
Caregiver involvement
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Text search of clinic note from any follow-up visit post AWV, wellness visit mention of accompanying family member/caregiver; extraction from EDW to determine if proxy access to patient's MyChart portal has been shared.
Up to 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Northwestern University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
ACCESS Community Health Network

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 25, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 28, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 14, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 19, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 21, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 25, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 21, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • R01AG069762 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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