Development of a Personalized, Psychosocial Intervention for Menopausal Individuals With Elevated Dementia Risk

Summary

By age 45, women's lifetime risk of dementia is estimated to be 1 in 5. Two-thirds of people currently living with a dementia diagnosis are women, and-women make up the majority of carers for people with dementia. Because women bear a larger burden of the dementia epidemic, they tend to be more fearful about dementia compared to men. Women may be especially fearful during the menopause transition, which can impact cognition. These fears can cause significant psychological distress, functional impairment, and avoidance of help seeking. Interventions that acknowledge women's fears and promote adaptive coping during the menopause transition are needed to combat dementia-related fear and its negative impacts.

This project aims to develop, and pilot test a brief personalized, psychosocial intervention for middle-aged perimenopausal individuals with elevated dementia risk. The investigators will assess the intervention's acceptability and feasibility for use in this population. The project will be completed in three stages. First, the investigators will conduct focus groups to better understand individual fears about dementia, informational and decisional needs, and strategies to promote adaptive coping as they transition through menopause (case-only, single time point). Second, the investigators will develop an intervention to meet the specific needs identified by the focus groups. Intervention components will address multiple areas of women's health in midlife, including aspects of physical and psychological health, as well as functional health outcomes that have important and long-lasting life implications. Finally, the investigators will conduct pilot testing to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention (cohort, 3-week testing period).

This project will deliver a novel psychosocial intervention that can provide middle-aged perimenopausal women with the information and practical skills that can help them manage their dementia-related fears and encourage adaptive coping behaviors. Outputs from the project will serve as preliminary data for a fully powered randomized controlled trial.

Conditions

• Menopausal
• Dementia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

PERI-MIND

PERI-MIND will be informed by the focus group findings from phase one. However, the investigators anticipate including core components related to psychoeducation, psychological grounding, \& behavioral activation, which will be specifically adapted to the perimenopausal and menopausal population. Psychoeducation in this context will focus on menopausal symptoms like brain fog (e.g., how common they are, how long they typically last), information about dementia and its risk factors (e.g., most actionable risk factors in mid-life), and links between menopause and dementia (e.g., hormonal replacement therapy). Psychological grounding content will focus on practical training exercises in mindful monitoring of concerns about brain fog and other menopausal symptoms (e.g., meditation, deep breathing). Behavioral activation will focus on exercises to recognize and disrupt avoidant coping behaviors, and increase engagement in valued activities (e.g., social engagement, exercise, healthy eating).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Chicago

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Francesca Farina, PhD · University of Chicago

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Max Age

58 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-01-31

Primary Completion

2026-12-30

Completion

2026-12-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations