Technology is changing how physicians think about assessing patients and, in turn, how patients expect to be able to measure their own health. Apps designed for smartphones and wearable devices can provide unique insights into users’ brain health.  

It is estimated that 55 million individuals worldwide suffer from some form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias being the leading causes, with numbers expected to triple by 2050. Early education and detection of cognitive changes empower individuals to enact lifestyle modifications and initiate pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to slow or prevent decline. In fact, up to 45% of global dementia cases could be prevented or delayed through targeted lifestyle changes and risk factor management, according to the 2024 Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care. This highlights how individuals can be empowered to protect and improve their brain health through proactive measures.

A new study in the journal Nature Medicine has found widely used consumer grade digital devices, such as the iPhone and Apple Watch, can be effective in assessing an individual's cognitive health without requiring in-person visits or supervision. This is the largest cognition study of its kind to demonstrate that self-administered cognitive assessments can be leveraged to accurately assess cognitive health over time.

Patrick Lenehan, MD, PhD and Anji Tang, MD are co-first authors, and Bharti Khurana, MD, MBA, in the Department of Radiology Trauma Imaging Research and Innovation Center (TIRIC) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is the corresponding author of a paper published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), “Utilizing Radiology as a Screening Tool to Identify Intimate Partner Violence.”

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that higher perceived discrimination in health care settings is positively associated with delaying health care due to nervousness about seeing a health care professional. The largest mediation proportion observed was among younger adults and racial and ethnic minority groups. By prioritizing better patient-clinician communication, health care delays associated with patient apprehension related to perceived discrimination may be reduced.

About The Study: In this retrospective multi-institutional study, patients who underwent surgery immediately preceding the weekend had a significantly increased risk of complications, readmissions, and mortality compared with those treated after the weekend. Further study is needed to understand differences in care that may underpin these observations and ensure that patients receive high-quality care regardless of the day of the week.