Trial results for a study investigating decision making and implementation of aging-in-place/long term care plans among older adults, including those with Alzheimer's Disease, were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2026-02-11, with 293 participants enrolled.
Background
Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment significantly impact an individual's ability to make and implement long-term care plans. Understanding the factors that influence these decisions, such as age-related cognitive changes, health literacy, chronic conditions, and social influences like caregivers, is crucial for supporting older adults in planning for their future care needs. This study aimed to explore these complex relationships to better inform strategies for aging-in-place and long-term care planning.
Trial design
This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 293 participants to investigate conditions including Alzheimer Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Long-Term Care Planning. The study's objective was to better understand how older adult aging-in-place/long-term care decision making and implementation is impacted by age-related changes and social influences. No specific interventions were listed, as the study focused on observational data regarding decision-making processes.
Key results
The trial reported several key measurements related to long-term care planning and decision-making contemplation rates among all enrolled subjects:
- The rate of participant long-term care planning for Alzheimer's Dementia/Memory Loss was 173 Participants.
- The rate of participant planning for in-home care in the event of Alzheimer's Disease/Memory Loss was 161 Participants.
- The rate of participant planning for memory care in the event of Alzheimer's Disease/Memory Loss was 42 Participants.
- The rate of participant planning for hospitalization requiring rehabilitation outside the home was 135 Participants.
- The rate of participant planning for hospitalization requiring in-home care was 158 Participants.
Participant decision-making contemplation rates for Alzheimer's Dementia/Memory Loss (ADML) were also reported, with counts of 56, 45, 41, 21, 31, 43, and 3 Participants for various contemplation stages.
Key analyses using Generalized Linear Mixed Models explored factors influencing the probability of planning for long-term care in the event of Alzheimer's Dementia/Memory Loss:
- Marital status (unmarried vs. married) showed an Odds Ratio (OR) of 0.966 (95.0% CI: 0.66 to 1.414) with a p-value of 0.6539, indicating no significant association.
- Limited health literacy, as measured by the Newest Vital Sign index, showed an OR of 0.859 (95.0% CI: 0.58 to 1.271) with a p-value of 0.4178, suggesting no significant association.
- Limited health literacy, as measured by the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine index, showed an OR of 0.704 (95.0% CI: 0.405 to 1.224) with a p-value of 0.7504, also indicating no significant association.
- Former tobacco use (vs. never used) showed an OR of 1.005 (95.0% CI: 0.66 to 1.53) with a p-value of 0.9367, indicating no significant association.
- Current tobacco use (vs. never used) showed an OR of 0.745 (95.0% CI: 0.29 to 1.914) with a p-value of 0.4337, indicating no significant association.
- Adequate Tangible Social Support (vs. no perceived need) showed an OR of 1.757 (95.0% CI: 0.98 to 3.149) with a p-value of 0.023. This indicates a statistically significant association, suggesting that older adults with adequate tangible social support demonstrated a greater likelihood to complete decision-making for aging-in-place.
What this means
The results highlight that while many factors were explored, adequate tangible social support emerges as a significant predictor of an older adult's likelihood to plan for long-term care in the context of Alzheimer's Disease or memory loss. This finding suggests that interventions and support systems aimed at enhancing social support networks could play a crucial role in empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their future care. Other factors like marital status, health literacy, and tobacco use did not show a statistically significant association with long-term care planning in this study.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT03960476, titled "Decision Making and Implementation of Aging-in-Place/Long Term Care Plans Among Older Adults", were posted on 2026-02-11 on clinicaltrials.gov.