Office- and Bedside-based Screening for Cognitive Impairment and the Dementias: Which Tools to Use, Interpreting the Results, and What Are the Next Steps?

David L Nyenhuis; Jaclyn Reckow

doi:10.1016/j.cger.2022.07.002

Office- and Bedside-based Screening for Cognitive Impairment and the Dementias: Which Tools to Use, Interpreting the Results, and What Are the Next Steps?

Clin Geriatr Med. 2023 Feb;39(1):15-25. doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2022.07.002. Epub 2022 Oct 18.

Authors

David L Nyenhuis¹, Jaclyn Reckow²

Affiliations

¹ Neuropsychology Section, Hauenstein Neuroscience Center, Mercy Health of West Michigan, 220 Cherry Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA. Electronic address: nyenhuda@mercyhealth.com.
² Department of Psychology, LCC International University, Kretingos g. 36, Klaipeda, Lithuania.

PMID: 36404027
DOI: 10.1016/j.cger.2022.07.002

Abstract

Elderly patients and their families are concerned about the patients' cognitive abilities, and cognitive screening is an efficient diagnostic tool, as long as clinicians administer the screens in a standardized manner and interpret the screen results accurately. The following brief summary reviews commonly used screening instruments and provides information about how to interpret screening test results. It concludes by showing how cognitive screening fits into a four-step process (Education, Screening, Follow-up, and Referral) of how to respond to patients with cognitive concerns.

Keywords: Cognitive screen; Dementia; MMSE; Mini-Cog; MoCA.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Aged
Cognition
Cognition Disorders*
Cognitive Dysfunction* / diagnosis
Dementia* / diagnosis
Humans
Mass Screening / methods