PeAD: psychotherapy in early AD – A randomized controlled pilot study

INTERVENTION: Group 1: Intervention group: group‐psychotherapy with 10 sessions each lasting 90 minutes, in addition 2 sessions lasting 90 min. are for care partners only Group 2: Control group: group‐psychotherapy with 10 sessions each lasting 90 minutes, in addition 2 sessions lasting 90 min. are for care partners only CONDITION: ; F06.7 Mild cognitive disorder PRIMARY OUTCOME: Feasibility of the intervention study and study design (focus group interviews, questionnaire) SECONDARY OUTCOME: Questionnaire assessments: Quantitative assessment of the effects of the intervention on the participants in relation to the following variables using the following questionnaires ; ; Patients: ; • Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS, Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986) ; • Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI, Pachana et al., 2007) ; • Columbia‐suicide severity rating scale (CSSRS, Posner et al., 2011) ; • Illness cognition questionnaire for chronic disease (ICQ, Evers et al., 2001) ; • Cognitive fusion questionnaire (CFQ, Gillanders et al., 2014) ; • Essener Fragebogen zur Krankheitsverarbeitung (EFK; Franke & Jagla‐Franke, 2021) ; • European Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS‐EU‐Q16; Sørensen et al., 2015) ; • Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS, Carpenter et al., 2009) ; • Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson & Clark & Tellegen, 1988) ; • World Health Organization WHOQOL‐BREF quality of life assessment (The World Health Organization Quality of Life Group, 1998) ; • Deutsche Version der Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Klein et al., 2016) ; • Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al. 2008) ; • Lifestyle Questionnaire ; • Questionnaire on social exchange ; ; Care partners: ; • Resilience and Strain Questionnaire (ResQ‐Care; Wuttke‐Linnemann et al., 2021, Deutsche Version: Fragebogen zur Angehörigen‐Resilienz und ‐Belastung (FARBE)) ; • Deutsche Version der Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Klein et al., 2016) ; 11 ; • European Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS‐EU‐Q16; Sørensen et al., 2015) ; • Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS, Carpenter et al., 2009) INCLUSION CRITERIA: Inclusion criteria MCI patients: • Clinical diagnosis of MCI according to the NIA‐AA criteria (Albert et al., 2011) =3 months and =24 months prior to randomization • Memory performance: =1.5 standard deviations below the age‐, sex‐, and education‐adjusted norm group in =1 cognitive domain • Cerebrospinal fluid evidence of Alzheimer’s disease (abnormal pTau and pTau181/Aß42 or Aß42/Aß40 levels) • Activities of daily living (ADLs) preserved • Written informed consent from the patient • Accompaniment by a primary care partner who is also willing to participate in the study • Age = 60 years Inclusion criteria Care Partners: ‐ Written declaration of consent ‐ Regular contact with the patient