`I forget everything!` Diagnostic Classification of Applicants with Forgetfulness to a Secondary Care Neurology Clinic, Izmir, Turkey

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine the frequency of neurological disease (ND), psychiatric disorder (PD), and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) diagnosis among patients admitted with forgetfulness to a secondary care neurology clinic and compare their demographic, family history characteristics and referral status. 
 The outcomes of this cross-sectional study are either being diagnosed with ND, PD or SCD. The independent variables are age, gender, family history of dementia and referral from a physician. Multinomial regression model is fitted with age and gender to predict the major diagnostic group. 
 Among 464 admissions with forgetfulness complaints less than a half of the applicants were diagnosed with an ND (44.4%) in total and it was lower in the younger age group (< 65, 7.8%). One-year increase in age decreased the chance of having an SCD by 14.5% (Odds Ratio (OR): 0.9, 95% CI: 0.8-0.9) and having an ND by 14.8% (OR: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.8 - 0.9) relative to a PD . Women had 2.6 (95% CI: 1.4 - 5.0) times higher SCD diagnosis compared to men relative to having an ND diagnosis. 
 In conclusion, this study shows that more than a half of the admissions are not associated with an ND and, mostly the young, women population admits neurology clinics with forgetfulness complaints without objective deficits for cognitive decline. In our opinion, the high frequency rates of this group should be considered carefully by policy makers.