Self-Reported Dementia-Related Diagnosis Underestimates the Prevalence of Possible Dementia in Older Americans

McGrath R, Robinson-Lane SG, Clark BC, Suhr JA, Giordani BJ, Vincent BM. Self-Reported Dementia-Related Diagnosis Underestimates the Prevalence of Older Americans Living with Possible Dementia. J Alzheimers Dis. 2021 May 18. doi: 10.3233/JAD-201212. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34024819.

Commentary

This study proposes the appropriate use of screening for dementia and investigates the current underreporting of reported dementia cases.

We sought to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment determined to be dementia (CICD) with no reported diagnosis through a nationally representative sample of older Americans.

The weighted analysis sample did not have a history of stroke, cancer, neurological conditions, or brain injury, and cognitive function was assessed by adaptive telephone interviews of cognitive status from the 2010-2016 Health and Retirement Study.

Note that those with these scores of 6 or less were those considered to have CICD.

The results showed that the estimated prevalence of unreported dementia-related diagnoses among older adults with CICD was 91.4%. In particular, there were more people identified as non-Hispanic blacks, and overall, the prevalence was higher among men than women. Furthermore, the estimated unreported prevalence of CICD among non-high school graduates was 93.5%.

Since the study design and diagnosis is self-induced, there are many things to be concerned about, but these results are also something to be considered.