# Recovering Individual Memory Problems Histories from Own and Proxy Retrospective Reports: A Feasibility Study

> **NIH NIH R21** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $250,887

## Abstract

Project Summary
In the project, "Recovering Individual Memory Problems Histories from Own and Proxy
Retrospective Reports: A Feasibility Study," we will adapt and extend the well-known Langa-
Weir method to estimate the prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
(ADRD) over the life-course of individuals. Our aims are explore whether and under what
conditions one can use that method to identify incipient ADRD in earlier life stages and how well
the method works. We focus specifically on ADRD not only because it is a critical issue faced by
most of the world’s populations but also because it is part of a class of diseases that share two
important features. First, in early stages of ADRD, patients present symptoms that are difficult to
interpret and that might be caused by multiple and very different diseases. Second, after a
person clearly has ADRD, that person increasingly finds it more and more difficult to remember
and report whether and when their symptoms began. The first characteristic implies that,
compared to contemporaneously collected data, retrospectively reported data might better
measure prevalence in populations at the early stages of ADRD. The second characteristic
implies that self-reported retrospective data will likely be less accurate than retrospective reports
of proxy respondents (who know the respondent’s history). Our project leverages, complements,
and benefits from the approach, data, and structure in our recently funded R21 project titled,
“Constructing, Validating, and Testing the Predictive Power of Life-Course Health Histories.” In
particular we will use the life course histories of other diseases as covariates in our model to
predict incipient ADRD. This supplemental project will dive more deeply into the specific issues
associated with ADRD. As in the parent project, our overall aims are to conduct a “proof-of-
concept” exercise to explore whether and for what conditions one can use retrospective
questions to generate life health histories and to provide a guide for researchers to use. Our
work products will expand the set of questions researchers can address with retrospective
health data already collected on existing surveys. The supplemental project will yield insights on
the specific issues associated with ADRD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10288967
- **Project number:** 3R21AG066037-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dean R Lillard
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $250,887
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-11 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10288967

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10288967, Recovering Individual Memory Problems Histories from Own and Proxy Retrospective Reports: A Feasibility Study (3R21AG066037-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10288967. Licensed CC0.

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