Elders with Dementia Unlikely to Receive Cognitive Evaluation

Although recent guidelines emphasize the lack of evidence that routine screening for dementia alters patient and caregiver decision making, other data suggest that cognitive evaluations may improve short-term functional outcomes and cost-effectiveness of care. In this study, a consensus panel of experts including neurologists, neuropsychologists, geropsychiatrists, and internists diagnosed dementia in 297 of 844 individuals aged ≥70 years from a nationally representative, community-based cohort. Dementia diagnoses were made using published criteria applied to an integration of videotaped portions of cognitive testing and neurological examination with more-detailed neuropsychological testing and informant measures. The researchers asked info…