Screening of Cognitive Impairment among Elderly in Primary Health Care Centers in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Cognitive impairment (CI) in the elderly is a growing worldwide public health problem, symptomatic CI is under-diagnosed, even though early detection in dementia care is of great significance and has many benefits, allowing the person to be involved in future care planning. The present cross-sectional study was conducted in primary health care centers in Elsharabya, Egypt. Aiming to measure the prevalence of cognitive impairment among elderly patients (≥ 60 years). using an interview questionnaire including socio-demographic data, comprehensive geriatric assessment, Saint – Louis – University – Mental – Status (SLUMS), Test your memory(TYM)) and General practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG) questionnaires. 51.3% of studied elderly suffered from mild CI compared to 32.5% suffered from marked CI according to SLUM score. Mean SLUM score among elderly who achieve below 12 years of education was19.51±3.16 and 52.5% of them suffered from marked CI. Among the elderly who achieve more than 12 years of education mean SLUM score was 24.30±3.24 and 59.5% suffered from mild CI. The mean of the TYM score of studied elderly was 43.25±4.79 and 68.8% of them suffered from CI. That mean GPCOG (patient assessment) score of studied elderly was 7.26±1.23, and 83.3% of them were classified as CI while mean GPCOG (caregiver interview) score was 4.30±0.76 and 13.0% of them were classified as CI.