World‐Wide FINGERS Network: A global approach to risk reduction and prevention of dementia

TLDR

Reducing dementia risk can halt its worldwide increase, and the multifactorial nature of late‑onset dementia suggests multidomain lifestyle interventions may reduce risk. WW‑FINGERS seeks to adapt, test, and optimize the FINGER multidomain intervention across diverse settings, harmonizing protocols, facilitating data sharing, and promoting joint initiatives to identify globally implementable preventive strategies for cognitive decline. WW‑FINGERS, launched in 2017 with over 25 countries, is a global network of multidomain lifestyle intervention trials that harmonizes protocols, facilitates data sharing, and promotes joint initiatives to identify implementable preventive strategies. Positive results from the landmark FINGER study support the effectiveness of multidomain lifestyle interventions for dementia risk reduction.

Abstract

Abstract Reducing the risk of dementia can halt the worldwide increase of affected people. The multifactorial and heterogeneous nature of late‐onset dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), indicates a potential impact of multidomain lifestyle interventions on risk reduction. The positive results of the landmark multidomain Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) support such an approach. The World‐Wide FINGERS (WW‐FINGERS), launched in 2017 and including over 25 countries, is the first global network of multidomain lifestyle intervention trials for dementia risk reduction and prevention. WW‐FINGERS aims to adapt, test, and optimize the FINGER model to reduce risk across the spectrum of cognitive decline—from at‐risk asymptomatic states to early symptomatic stages—in different geographical, cultural, and economic settings. WW‐FINGERS aims to harmonize and adapt multidomain interventions across various countries and settings, to facilitate data sharing and analysis across studies, and to promote international joint initiatives to identify globally implementable and effective preventive strategies.