FRIDAY, July 17, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Blood-based biomarkers (BBM) for Alzheimer disease (AD) improve accuracy of diagnosis, according to a study presented at the annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference, held from July 12 to 15 in London.
Sebastian Palmqvist, M.D., Ph.D., from Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues examined changes in diagnosis and clinical management of patients with cognitive impairment before and after disclosure of BBM results to physicians in primary and secondary care. Data were included for 383 and 927 patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia in primary and secondary care, respectively. A total of 165 physicians completed questionnaires before and after BBM test disclosure.
The researchers found that dementia experts in secondary care changed their diagnosis in 21.6 percent of patients after test disclosure. There was an increase in diagnostic accuracy for AD from 74 to 89 percent. In 49.2 percent of cases, test disclosure led to changes in clinical management. Diagnosis changed in 30.0 percent of patients in primary care, with an increase in accuracy of AD diagnosis from 65 to 93 percent. Clinical management changes occurred in 55.9 percent. Higher diagnostic accuracy was seen for dementia experts versus primary care physicians before disclosure (76 versus 65 percent), while no difference was seen after disclosure (94 versus 93 percent).
"Our findings show that this blood test could bring that level of accuracy into primary care, where most patients are first seen, closing the gap between primary care and specialty care," Palmqvist said in a statement.
