Neurological Disorders in Central Spain, Second Survey: Feasibility Pilot Observational Study

Jesús Hernández-Gallego; Sara Llamas-Velasco; Felix Bermejo-Pareja; Saturio Vega; Ester Tapias-Merino; Emiliano Rodríguez-Sánchez; Elina Boycheva; José Ignacio Serrano; Juan-Francisco Gil-García; Rocio Trincado; José-María Vizcaino Sánchez-Rodrigo; Jesús Cacho; Israel Contador; Sara Garcia-Ptacek; Fernando Sierra-Hidalgo; Esther Cubo; Eva Carro; Alberto Villarejo-Galende; Rosalía García García-Patino; Julián Benito-León

doi:10.2196/10941

Neurological Disorders in Central Spain, Second Survey: Feasibility Pilot Observational Study

JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 Jan 10;8(1):e10941. doi: 10.2196/10941.

Authors

Jesús Hernández-Gallego^#^{1

2

3}, Sara Llamas-Velasco^#^{1

2

4}, Felix Bermejo-Pareja^#^{2

3

4}, Saturio Vega^#⁵, Ester Tapias-Merino^#^{4

6}, Emiliano Rodríguez-Sánchez^#⁷, Elina Boycheva^#⁴, José Ignacio Serrano^#⁸, Juan-Francisco Gil-García^#⁹, Rocio Trincado^#², José-María Vizcaino Sánchez-Rodrigo^#¹⁰, Jesús Cacho^#¹¹, Israel Contador^#¹², Sara Garcia-Ptacek^#^{13

14}, Fernando Sierra-Hidalgo^#¹⁵, Esther Cubo^#¹⁶, Eva Carro^#^{2

4}, Alberto Villarejo-Galende^#^{1

2

3

4}, Rosalía García García-Patino^#¹¹, Julián Benito-León^#^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, University Hospital "12 de Octubre", Madrid, Spain.
² Spanish Network for Biomedical Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Carlos III Research Institute, Madrid, Spain.
³ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
⁴ Group of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Research Institute, University Hospital "12 de Octubre", Madrid, Spain.
⁵ Arevalo Health Center, Arevalo (Ávila), Spain.
⁶ Comillas Health Center, Madrid, Spain.
⁷ La Alamedilla Health Center, La Alamedilla (Salamanca), Spain.
⁸ Neural and Cognitive Engineering Group, Centro de Automática y Robótica, Spanish National Research Council, Arganda del Rey (Madrid), Spain.
⁹ Cantalejo Health Center, Cantalejo (Segovia), Spain.
¹⁰ Fuentelarreina Health Center, Madrid, Spain.
¹¹ Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
¹² Department of Basic Psychology, Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
¹³ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.
¹⁴ Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁵ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain.
¹⁶ Department of Neurology, University Hospital "General Yagüe", Burgos, Spain.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 30632964
PMCID: PMC6329894
DOI: 10.2196/10941

Abstract

Background: The Neurological Disorders in Central Spain, second survey (NEDICES-2) is a population-based, closed-cohort study that will include over 8000 subjects aged ≥55 years. It will also include a biobank.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate all major aspects of the NEDICES-2 (methods, database, screening instruments, and questionnaires, as well as interexpert rating of the neurological diagnoses) in each one of the planned areas (all of them in central Spain) and to test the possibility of obtaining biological samples from each participant.

Methods: A selection of patients and participants of the planned NEDICES-2 underwent face-to-face interviews including a comprehensive questionnaire on demographics, current medications, medical conditions, and lifestyle habits. Biological samples (blood, saliva, urine, and hair) were also obtained. Furthermore, every participant was examined by a neurologist.

Results: In this pilot study, 567 study participants were enrolled (196 from hospitals and 371 from primary care physician lists). Of these 567, 310 completed all study procedures (questionnaires and the neurological evaluation). The study was time-consuming for several primary care physicians. Hence, a few primary care physicians from some areas refused to participate, which led to a reconfiguration of study areas. In addition, the central biobank needed to be supplemented by the biobanks of local Spanish National Health System hospitals.

Conclusions: Population-based epidemiological surveys, such as the NEDICES-2, require a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of all aspects of a future field study (population selection, methods and instruments to be used, neurological diagnosis agreement, and data collection).

Keywords: NEDICES; Parkinson’s disease; dementia; essential tremor; headache; longitudinal study; mild cognitive impairment; observational study; pilot study; population-based study; stroke.

©Jesús Hernández-Gallego, Sara Llamas-Velasco, Felix Bermejo-Pareja, Saturio Vega, Ester Tapias-Merino, Emiliano Rodríguez-Sánchez, Elina Boycheva, José Ignacio Serrano, Juan-Francisco Gil-García, Rocio Trincado, José-María Vizcaino Sánchez-Rodrigo, Jesús Cacho, Israel Contador, Sara Garcia-Ptacek, Fernando Sierra-Hidalgo, Esther Cubo, Eva Carro, Alberto Villarejo-Galende, Rosalía García García-Patino, Julián Benito-León. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 10.01.2019.