Frailty Outcomes And Risk With Alzheimer's Related Dementia (FORWARD)

November 23, 2025 updated by: Johannes Riis, Aalborg University Hospital

Association Between Decline in Functional Ability and Frailty in Community-dwelling Older Adults Living With Alzheimer's Dementia

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the association between frailty as defined by the Fried Frailty Phenotype and risk of functional decline in patients with Alzheimer's dementia. The hypothesis is that frailty is associated with greater functional decline in community-dwelling older people with Alzheimer's dementia compared to those without frailty.

Secondary aims include investigation of long-term risk of institutionalization (through administrative follow-up) and trajectories of assessment components in future assessment.

The study is designed as a prospective cohort study. Participants in the study will undergo an assessment battery at baseline, 1 years of follow-up, and administrative follow-up for 5 years.

Participants will be recruited from patients of the Unit of Dementia at Aalborg University Hospital within 3 months of dementia diagnosis. The time frame of 3 months after diagnosis was chosen to ensure that cognitive assessment in the Unit of Dementia was reflective of patient's cognitive level and thereby ability to consent at inclusion. Patients will be eligible for inclusion if they are 65 years or older, have a diagnosis of mild or moderate Alzheimer's or mixed (Alzheimer's and vascular) dementia, live at home, and are able to walk 5 meters independently of other people (walking aids will be allowed). The severity of dementia will be defined according to score on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) as it has done in other studies. According to this definition a MMSE score between 20-30 indicates mild Alzheimer's dementia and a MMSE score from 15-19 indicates moderate dementia. People with moderately severe and severe Alzheimer's dementia defined as MMSE score below 15 will not be eligible to participate.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Enrolling by invitation

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.

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.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

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.
130

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

  • Denmark
      • Aalborg, Denmark, 900
        • Aalborg University Hospital

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

This study aims to include community-dwelling people living at home with mild to moderate Alzheimers dementia aged 65+. Participant will be included only within 3 months of dementia diagnosis. Consecutive sampling at the Unit of Dementia in Northen Jutland in Denmark will be employed.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of Alzheimers Dementia
  • MMSE > 14
  • Age >= 65
  • Not living in institution
  • Able to walk 5m without assistence (walking aids accepted)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No available caregiver/proxy
  • Unable to give informed consent as judged by caregiver/proxy or researcher
  • Time from diagnosis > 3 months

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
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.
Frail
Defined by Fried Frailty Criteria
Other: Frailty
defined as weigh loss (>4.5 kg in one year), exhaustion, slow gait speed (below 20th percentile for sex and height), weakness (handgrip strength below 20th percentile for sex and BMI), and low physical activity (by the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly). The presence of three or more out of five criteria is defined as frailty while one to two criteria is prefrailty
Non-Frail/pre-frail
Defined by Fried Frailty Criteria

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
Caregiver IADL Change
Time Frame: 1 year
Defined by caregiver reported ADL performance on the Functional Activities Questinnaire
1 year
Patient IADL Change
Time Frame: 1 year
Defined by patient reported ADL performance on the Functional Activities Questinnaire
1 year
Caregiver BADL Change
Time Frame: 1 year
Defined by caregiver reported ADL performance on Barthel ADL scale
1 year
Patient BADL Change
Time Frame: 1 year
Defined by patient reported ADL performance on Barthel ADL scale
1 year

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
Nursing home admission
Time Frame: 5 years
Admission to nursing home (time to event)
5 years
Mortality
Time Frame: 5 years
Death (time to event)
5 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.
Aalborg University Hospital

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 22, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
September 1, 2027

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).
August 22, 2024

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.
August 22, 2024

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.
August 26, 2024

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.
November 28, 2025

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.
November 23, 2025

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.
November 1, 2025

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.
  • N-20230068

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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