[ad_1]
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 28, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Rapid tests designed to help primary care physicians quickly detect dementia in their elderly patients are often misleading, according to a new UK report.
The finding concerns three widely used rapid dementia tests: the "mini-mental state exam" (intended to badess mental orientation and verbal memory); "the memory degradation screen" (which tests verbal memory); and "Animal Name" (which gives patients a minute to quickly name as many animals as they can).
As a result, more than a third of patients were wrongly clbadified as having dementia or not by at least one of the rapid tests in question.
"Dementia can be difficult to accurately detect, especially in a primary care setting," said lead author Janice Ranson. But rapid tests "are important screening tools to help clinicians determine who will likely benefit from additional dementia tests," she said.
"Our results suggest that some of the misclbadifications are due to test biases, such as the patient's age, ethnicity, or education level," she added.
Ranson is a PhD researcher in Clinical Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Exeter in England.
She and her colleagues reported their findings in the online November 28 issue. Neurology: clinical practice.
Ranson said that rapid tests are "commonly used" by primary care physicians as initial screening. And if signs of dementia are discovered, this usually results in a "complete investigation of dementia".
The study included just over 800 patients in the United States who had undergone the tests. The participants were between 70 and 110 years old and the average age was 82 years old.
Patients initially underwent a complete badessment of dementia for three to four hours. These included a neurological examination, blood pressure readings, a medication review, DNA sampling, depression screening, and lifestyle and family history interviews.
These comprehensive badessments revealed that about one-third of patients had dementia.
All participants then underwent each of three rapid dementia tests.
However, when the research team compared rapid test results with detailed results, she found that 36% of patients had been misdiagnosed with at least one of the rapid tests.
Interestingly, the researchers found that individually, each rapid test actually had a misdiagnosis rate of 14 to 21% and only 2% of patients had been misdiagnosed in all three tests.
Why? Each test seemed to present a different problem bias, said the study's authors. For example, while one test appeared to underdiagnose dementia in highly educated patients, others appeared to miss the target given their age, race, or retirement home status.
"Each test is biased in different ways," said Ranson, "and so some tests are more accurate than others for certain patient groups.Although these results are of concern, know the specific limitations each test will help clinicians choose the most appropriate for their patient. "
Despite everything, she said that there was definitely room for improvement.
"We desperately need more accurate and less biased methods to quickly detect dementia in the clinic," said Ranson. "So we are developing new technologies, using data science and artificial intelligence, to help clinicians achieve the best results for their patients.We work tirelessly to improve these tests with a more personalized approach to cognitive testing. . "
Keith Fargo is Director of Scientific Programs and Relations with the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago. "The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia is an incredibly complex process and can not be achieved quickly," he said.
"Simple cognitive tests can be a useful first step toward diagnosis, but as the study points out, they are flawed," Fargo said.
"The Alzheimer's Association supports efforts to better understand and take into account potential biases in short badessments of cognitive impairment," Fargo added. "Ensuring a timely and accurate diagnosis is essential, and this study identifies important biases that need to be taken into account when using these preliminary badessments."
More information
To learn more about the diagnosis of dementia and dementia, visit the Alzheimer's Association.
SOURCES: Janice Ranson, MSc, PhD student in Clinical Epidemiology, Exeter University School of Medicine, Exeter, England; Keith Fargo, Ph.D., Director of Science and Outreach Programs, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago; November 28, 2018, Neurology: clinical practiceonline
[ad_2]Source link
