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Relatively little data exist concerning the utility of brief cognitive measures to detect dementia among African Americans. The current study evaluated the clinical utility of the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) and the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME) in detecting Alzheimer's disease (AD) among both African American and European American older adults. One hundred and forty geriatric patients from a large urban academic medical center were examined. Overall, the FOME appeared to be more effective in detecting AD than was the MMSE (93% sensitivity vs. 75% sensitivity, respectively), although both measures suffered from relatively low specificity (63.5) in the full sample. The FOME demonstrated exceptional clinical utility among African American patients (sensitivity 98.3%; specificity = 64.5; positive predictive power 83.8%; negative predictive power 95.2%). The results of this study support the use of the FOME among older African Americans to detect dementia.

Congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and hypertension are common causes of hospitalization in the elderly. Short-term postdischarge clinical outcomes regarding compliance, symptom control, readmission, functional status, and mortality rates are in need of improvement. This observational study documents the results of a home-based case-managed telemedicine (CMTM) program delivered over a 2-month period postdischarge. A population of 851, predominantly elderly (over age 60), recently discharged patients were enrolled in the program. They received a nurse visit up to 3 times/week and home telemedicine monitoring (weight, blood pressure, pulse rate, blood glucose, and oximeter recordings) on a daily basis. Patient education was provided by the nurse and reinforced through telemedicine. Compliance rates, quality of life parameters, patient satisfaction with telemedicine, and data regarding nine quality of care measures (QCM), hospital readmission, and mortality rates were documented. Patient demographics and outcomes of care were analyzed. There were 68% females and 56% African Americans. The readmission rate was 13% and mortality 2%. Treatment goals were met in 67%, patient compliance rate was 77%, and the average improvement in the nine QCM indicators was 66%. A majority of patients showed improved quality of health perception, better disease understanding, and high satisfaction rates with telemedicine. This is one of the larger observational studies in a predominantly elderly patient population enrolled in a CMTM program, to date. This model of care was well accepted by the elderly and produced excellent short-term clinical outcomes.

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