Cognitive Assessment of Elderly Primary Care Patients

Current trends in healthcare suggest that in the coming decade most older patients will obtain services solely through the general practice/family practice sector of healthcare. Effective and optimal management of older patients with multiple complex medical conditions and compromised cognitive functioning will be a challenge for the primary care physician (PCP). Early identification of older patients with cognitive deficits should allow early referral for diagnostic work-up and earlier treatment and better patient outcomes. The goal of this study is to investigate the utility of providing cognitive testing in the PCP office. PCPs will be randomized to either Treatment As Usual (TAU) or Cognitive Report (CR). The study hypotheses are (1) patients of physicians in the CR group will have improved clinical outcomes i.e. cognitively impaired patients in the CR group will have a slower rate of progression of cognitive deficits over two years than cognitively impaired patients in the TAU group; (2) PCPs in the CR group will order dementia screening tests, refer to specialists and prescribe anticholinesterase inhibitors more frequently than PCPs in the TAU group.

Inclusion criteria

• Age 65 or over
• Plan to remain a patient of this physician for two years
• MMSE score greater than 18

Exclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of Dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Vascular disease or other dementing disorder
• MMSE score of 18 or less
• Sensory deficit e.g. limited vision or hearing precluding cognitive testing