Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND)

January 15, 2026 updated by: Howard Chertkow, McGill University

The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia Study

This is a longitudinal observational study recruiting individuals between the ages of 50 and 90 with different types of dementia as well as a comparison group without cognitive deficits. Participants are/will be recruited at sites across Canada and will undergo assessments, neuroimaging, and biological sample collection.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

This is a longitudinal observational study that started in Phase I with the recruitment of 1173 participants between the ages of 50 and 90 years with Subjective Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment with subcortical vascular lesions, Alzheimer's Disease, Mixed dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson's Disease Dementia, Parkinson's Disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Frontotemporal Dementia as well as healthy elderly subjects without cognitive complaints or deficits. These participants were enrolled in 30 different centres across Canada.

All subjects involved in the study underwent rigorous evaluations at baseline, including clinical assessment, neuropsychological assessment, genomics and neuroimaging. Biological samples from blood, saliva, urine, fecal matter, buccal cells and cerebrospinal fluid were collected, stored, and analyzed.

Longitudinal follow-up determining if there has been any change in their diagnosis was carried out annually and longitudinal re-evaluation was carried out at two times: Time 2 and Time 3.

In Time 3, 400 participants across the non-dementia cohorts (Cognitively Unimpaired, Subjective Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment with a Vascular Component, Parkinson's Disease with no Cognitive Impairment, Parkinson's Disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment) with up to 12 years of education will be recruited.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

1573

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 Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • Recruiting
        • University of Alberta Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z3
        • Recruiting
        • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
      • Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, V8R 6R3
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Island Health
        • Contact:
          • Alexandre Henri-Bhargava, MD
          • Phone Number: (778) 265-6111
          • Email: alexhb@uvic.ca
        • Contact:
    • Nova Scotia
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3E 2E1
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8L 2X2
        • Recruiting
        • Hamilton General Hospital
        • Contact:
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 4V2
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6C 5J1
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 5C8
        • Active, not recruiting
        • Bruyere Research Institute
      • Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9H 2P4
        • Active, not recruiting
        • Kawartha Centre
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 3M5
        • Active, not recruiting
        • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 2S8
        • Active, not recruiting
        • University Health Network Memory Clinic
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6A 1W1
      • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
        • Active, not recruiting
        • University of Waterloo
    • Quebec
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3G 1A4
        • Active, not recruiting
        • Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1E2
        • Recruiting
        • Jewish General Hospital/McGill Memory Clinic
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3W 1W5
      • Québec, Quebec, Canada, G1J 1Z4
      • Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, J1J3H5
        • Active, not recruiting
        • Centre de recherche sur le vieillissement CIUSSS de l'Estrie-CHUS

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

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

2300 English and/or French-speaking participants recruited from across Canada in the following groups:

  • 650 Cognitively healthy volunteers
  • 300 volunteers with Subjective Cognitive Decline
  • 400 volunteers with Mild Cognitive Impairment
  • 200 volunteers with Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment
  • 150 volunteers with Alzheimer's disease
  • 200 volunteers with Dementia of Mixed Etiology
  • 200 volunteers with Parkinson's disease and cognitive impairment
  • 200 volunteers with Frontotemporal spectrum dementia

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Has subjective or objective cognitive impairment
  • Written informed consent must be obtained and documented (from the patient or, where jurisdictions allow it, from a caregiver/family member)
  • Sufficient proficiency in English or French to undertake self report and neuropsychological testing
  • Geographic accessibility to the study site
  • Must have a study partner who can participate as required in the protocol (provide corroborative information)
  • Up to 12 years of education
  • Fits into one of the following groups: Cognitively Unimpaired, Subjective Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment, Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson's Disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • The presence of other significant known chronic brain disease such as: moderate to severe chronic static leukoencephalopathy (including previous traumatic injury), multiple sclerosis, a serious developmental handicap, malignant tumors, Parkinson's disease (other than for the Parkinson's cohort), and other rarer brain illnesses
  • Ongoing alcohol or drug abuse which in the opinion of the investigator may interfere with the subject's ability to comply with the study procedures
  • Symptomatic stroke within the previous year
  • Unable to undergo MRI scan due to medical contraindications or inability to tolerate the procedure

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
Normal healthy elderly
participants with no subjective or objective cognitive deficits or decline.
Subjective Cognitive Decline
Participants with a complaint of subjective cognitive impairment, but no objective evidence of such.
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
Participants with objective evidence of cognitive impairment, but it does not impact on daily function.
Vascular MCI
Participants meeting criteria of MCI who also show signs of cerebrovascular disease on imaging but have no history of stroke.
Alzheimer's Disease
Participants with dementia of the Alzheimer's type according to the National Institute of Aging-Alzheimer's Association criteria
Dementia of Mixed Etiology
Participants with dementia and evidence of more than one etiology.
Lewy Body/Parkinson's spectrum
Participants with Parkinson's disease who show mild or moderate cognitive impairment and/or dementia.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) spectrum
Participants with behavioral variant FTD, primary progressive aphasia, progressive supranuclear palsy, or corticobasal syndrome

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score
Time Frame: 8 years
change in MoCA total score. The MoCA is a test of global cognition scored out of 30 with a higher score indicating better performance. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 30.
8 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

McGill University

Collaborators

Eli Lilly and Company
Sanofi
Pfizer
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation
Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation
New Brunswick Health Research Foundation
Alzheimer Society of Canada
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging
Ontario Brain Institute
Canadian Nurses Foundation (CNF)

Investigators

  • Study Director: Michael Borrie, MD, Western University
  • Study Director: Natalie Philips, PhD, Concordia University, Montreal
  • Study Director: Jaspreet Bhangu, MB, Western University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

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)

June 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2023

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 11, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 11, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

January 18, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 15, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CCNA 2015

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data will be shared initially with all Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA) affiliated researchers and eventually with all interested researchers internationally.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

The data is currently available.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Reaserchers who which to access the database will be required to create an account through CCNA and demonstrate their research credentials and their affiliation to a recognized research organization. Users must confirm that their intended use of data respects CCNA policies and applicable ethical, legal, and data governance requirements. Researchers are further required to hold data secure, not to attempt the re-identification of research participants, and not to perform research that could cause communities to experience stigmatization or discrimination.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

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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