Analysis of intervention effects of three different models on children with autism spectrum disorder.

Approximately 50 million people currently live with dementia worldwide, and this number is expected to triple within the next 25 years (). Over the past decade, several epidemiological studies () have highlighted the important role of modifiable risk factors—lifestyle- and experience-related characteristics that can influence the likelihood of developing dementia—across lifespan. To quantify these risks, several individual risk indices have been developed, including CAIDE (), LIBRA (), and ANU-ADRI (). While these tools provide valuable information, they are often complex and require detailed clinical, cognitive, biomedical, imaging, and genetic data, which can limit their practical use in large-scale or primary care settings (). The most recent Lancet Commission reports (; ; ) on dementia prevention indicate that 12 to 14 modifiable risk factors may account for 40–45% of dementia cases, emphasizing the potential public health impact of identifying and targeting these factors. Recently, a self-report questionnaire was developed from a comprehensive systematic review of evidence and validated to capture modifiable risk factors for dementia (CogDrisk; ), also featuring a validated short-form version (51 items accounting for 11 risk factors) (). However, unlike these comprehensive risk algorithms or longer self-report questionnaires, the RF12 is specifically designed as a very brief checklist (17 items accounting for 12 risk factors) to be used as a first-step, rapid evaluation in primary care, or in large-scale epidemiological and exploratory studies. Furthermore, it is the first self-report questionnaire for the assessment of modifiable risk factors for dementia developed in Italy. The 2020 Lancet Commission report ()—which guided the conception of this study—identified the following modifiable risk factors: low educational attainment (early life); hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, hypertension, high alcohol consumption, and obesity (midlife); and smoking, depression, social isolation, physical inactivity, exposure to air pollution, and diabetes (later life). The 2024 update () added untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol to this list. Together, these factors reflect lifestyle habits and life experiences that can influence neurocognitive health across the lifespan. Addressing these modifiable risk factors could potentially reduce the prevalence of dementia, highlighting the importance of preventive strategies at both individual and population levels. Understanding how these factors relate to cognitive outcomes is therefore critical (). In this context, risk assessment tools play a key role in identifying individuals with elevated modifiable risk profiles who may benefit from lifestyle interventions or further evaluation. Epidemiological evidence suggests that subtle cognitive vulnerabilities may be present in midlife, highlighting the importance of early identification of cognitive changes. This underlines the potential utility of tools that assess both cognitive performance and modifiable lifestyle factors, even in populations that are ostensibly healthy ().