Should older adults be screened for dementia?

Abstract

The question of whether to screen for dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been discussed in many forums throughout the world. Generally, medical advisory groups and policy-making groups have recognized the importance of early diagnosis but have uniformly avoided making recommendations to screen at-risk populations. This presentation reflects the support for reconsidering the importance of screening individuals at risk or above a certain age. In this statement, the majority of the authors support the consideration of dementia risk factors in individuals at age 50, with routine yearly screening after 75. Other authors remain concerned that the benefits of treatments of early disease do not yet support a general screening recommendation. These statements are made to encourage progress toward the development of a consensus regarding the widespread institution of screening policy. Accordingly, members of the worldwide scientific community are invited to add their perspective by contributing short commentaries (1500 words) on this subject.

Implementing Routine Cognitive Screening of Older Adults in Primary Care: Process and Impact on Physician Behavior

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Dementia screening remains more controversial than screening for most other chronic conditions 6,7 despite evidence that it could improve case finding. 1,3,8,9 Practicing physicians acknowledge the importance of recognizing cognitive impairment, but important barriers, such as added visit time, still exist.…”

Drawing-Based Automatic Dementia Screening Using Gaussian Process Markov Chains

“…In dementia screening, as there are currently no specific treatments to block the progression of cognitive decline in dementia [38]. Early detection allows the early plan of treatment or interventions [39]. In contrast, the cost of false positive equals to the drawbacks of preventive treatment, which is comparatively harmless.…”

Dementia Assessment by Rapid Test (DART): An Indian Screening T ool for Dementia

“…Moreover, there is ample evidence supporting the view that screening can improve case identification [13]. Besides, it not only facilitates early diagnosis and better treatment, it also supports public health and fosters research [8].…”

“…Hence, considering the characteristics of MCI and dementia and its prevalence worldwide, it is one of the major public health problems which need attention [8]. Hence, international guidelines (Table 1) for screening programs were developed in order to reduce the global burden of disease [9].…”