FAST Study
Our FAST (Feasibility and Acceptability of Scalable Tests) study is a pilot research study run by the University of Oxford and Dementias Platform UK. The study plans to assess attitudes to dementia risk screening using digital and blood tests. It will lead on to a much larger nationwide study investigating blood biomarkers for brain health across Britain, particularly markers for dementia and memory disorders.
What is the purpose of the study?
Dementia can have a great impact on the lives of people living with the condition and their caregivers. As it progresses, someone with dementia will experience more difficulties, gradually becoming more dependent on others. This is usually accompanied with greater memory loss and cognition (thinking capabilities) than others of the same age without the condition will experience.
This study will consider how these alterations to memory and cognition relate to changes that can be determined from blood samples. Before we start a wide scale study, we are undertaking this smaller study to better understand how participants feel about the study process. What we learn during this pilot study will be incorporated into the larger study.
We are looking for people to join the study
Our team is actively recruiting volunteers to join the FAST study. If you are interested or know someone who might have an interest, we would love to hear from you. There are only a few requirements:
All participants must be over 50 and
- are cognitively healthy, or
- have been diagnosed with dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment by your GP or at a memory clinic.
There are no direct advantages from taking part in the study, however you will be providing a very valuable contribution to science. Your participation may lead to the better detection and/or treatment of dementia in future. Of course we do not know what the study outcomes will be. That is why we are conducting the research.
If you choose to participate
- A researcher will contact you to discuss the study and address your questions.
- The researcher will arrange an appointment at the hospital with you.
- You will have two blood sample collections (up to 30ml), at the beginning of the study and at a 12-month follow-up.
- You will take a computer-based memory test three times: at the start, 6 months, and 12 months.
- You will be asked to complete a study questionnaire.
Our current study sites:
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Crowborough, East Sussex
- Chertsey, Surrey
- Exeter, Devon
We are currently engaged in discussions regarding the potential opening of additional sites in the future.
Future study sites:
- Newport, Wales
- Swindon, Wiltshire
- London
- Southampton
- Taunton, Somerset
- Blandford Forum, Dorset
- Cambridge
Interested to know more about FAST Study?
Data Protection
The value of data recorded during the study will be of immense value in future research.
Great care is taken to protect the privacy of our volunteers. Only researchers from the project will have access to data. This data is stored centrally on the UK Secure eResearch Platform (UKSeRP) which is independently audited and accredited to the highest standards. And the team follows all UK General Data Protection Regulation guidelines.
Volunteers taking part in the study are asked to commit to being contacted for 5 years after the end of the study. If you leave the study any records which might identify you will be destroyed.