Instant diagnosis of dementia in older patients who were admitted with forgetfulness to a single geriatric memory clinic

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAging is a process associated with progressive and predictable changes that can cause many diseases. As in other systems, structural changes occur in the brain, behavior, and cognitive functions with age. Older people often complain about the decrease in cognitive skills, especially in the memory area and forgetfulness is one of the most common cognitive complaints. In this study, we evaluated the diagnosis of major and minor cognitive impairment in older people who were admitted with forgetfulness to our clinicMethodThis cross‐sectional study, retrospectively desgned, was conducted between January 2018 and January 2022 on a total of 1440 participants who applied to the Geriatrics department with the complaint of forgetfulness, without any acute health problems and with a complete geriatric assessment, including activities of daily living, evaluation of cognitive functions and mood, and blood tests. Dementia diagnosis was made according to the DSM‐V and related specific diagnostic criteria. All demented patients had brain imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, if possible.ResultThe mean age and female frequency were higher in patients with major and minor cognitive impairment while estimated glomerular filtration, folate, and TSH levels were lower. The prevalence of major and minor cognitive impairment was 7.70% and 21.30% respectively. Most of the 3 major neurocognitive impairment diagnoses were Alzheimer’s Disease (7.40%), dementia with Lewy body (3.50%), and Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (1.70%).ConclusionConsidering the risk of dementia in older adults, evaluating the memory complaints has of great importance. This study shows that the majority of the older adults who applied with the complaint of forgetfulness do not have dementia. It is remarkable that the rate of major and minor cognitive impairment was too high to be ruled out in our study population.