- Early diagnosis is important for all types of dementia.
- The methods researchers currently use to detect and screen for early dementia may be costly, unavailable, or carry certain risks.
- Researchers at Murdoch University have developed a screening test to assess dementia risk through self-reported concerns across six different cognitive domains.
The researchers:
Dementia is a general term for diseases that affect memory, thinking, and the ability to communicate. Currently, the most common types of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease.
In all types of dementia, Early diagnosis Currently, there is no cure for dementia, but early diagnosis can help doctors Pharmaceuticals There are other options available to slow the progression of the disease.
In recent years, researchers have been working to find new ways to diagnose dementia at its earliest stages.
One such group, researchers at Murdoch University in Western Australia, have developed a new test to help assess dementia risk by asking people to self-report concerns in six different cognitive domains, including memory, concentration and language.
Their findings were published in the journal Age and aging.
“In an era when disease-modifying treatments are on the horizon, the earlier we can identify people who need intervention, the better the outcomes of dementia care will be.” Hamid R. Sohravi, BSc, MSc, PhD“We found that people with type 2 diabetes were more likely to develop depression than people with type 3 diabetes,” said lead author of the study, executive director of the Health Futures Institute, director of the Centre for Healthy Ageing and professor of psychology and clinical neuroscience in the School of Psychology at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Today’s Medical News.
“Current methods of early detection or screening for people at risk of dementia are costly, unavailable in most places and can carry certain risks, so it’s important to identify who should be moved onto a more medically robust assessment, such as brain imaging, and ensure resources are used in the best way possible.”
— Hamid R. Sohravi, BSc, MSc, PhD
To develop this new screening test, the McCusker Subjective Cognitive Impairment Inventory (McSCI), Sohravi and his team
Subjective cognitive decline is a person’s self-reported deterioration of brain function, such as memory loss, confusion, or thinking.
Previous studies have shown that subjective cognitive decline and
“Subjective cognitive decline is associated with an approximately two-fold increased risk of dementia,” Sohravi explained.
“However, the measurements available in the field were not robust enough to be used on individuals in a clinical setting. That’s why we’re committed to developing measurements that can be used in both research and clinical settings and have good precision. We were initially confident that McSCI would be a good measurement, but once we completed the statistical analysis, the results far exceeded our expectations,” he said.
The McSCI screening test is a 46-item self-report questionnaire that addresses concerns in six cognitive domains.
During the study, the researchers found that the McSCI screening tool was able to identify individuals with above-average subjective cognitive decline with 99.9% accuracy.
“The questionnaire should be completed under the supervision of a clinician, and the scores could be misleading for those without education or expertise,” Sohravi said. “Higher McSCI scores indicate greater interest in reporting cognitive ability.”
““Memory complaints are important and should be considered seriously,” he continued, “but McSCI doesn’t just ask about memory. It also asks about several cognitive functions that have been shown to be important in our study and others. In addition, the questions provide part of a score that can help general practitioners and clinicians decide whether they should further evaluate a patient.”
Additionally, the researchers developed McSCI as open access, making it free for use by clinicians and researchers.
“We are working on developing an informant version of the measure and, if we receive further funding, also on an online app that could further facilitate use of McSCI,” Sohravi added.
After reviewing this study, Karen D. Sullivan, PhD, ABPP“I think it’s important to have a positive attitude toward your brain,” said neuropsychologist and Lead Healthcare Transformation Fellow at FirstHealth of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and owner of I CARE FOR YOUR BRAIN. MNT Healthcare systems around the world face major bottlenecks, including a shortage of brain health specialists and the world’s largest ageing population in history at risk of neurodegenerative diseases that require early and accurate dementia diagnosis to benefit from current treatments.
“This public health crisis requires innovative solutions,” Sullivan continued. “Standardized, sensitive, and predictive self-reports like McSCI are an important component of screening procedures, but they also need to be integrated with reports from people who know the individual well and can share their observations of changes in cognition, behavior, and function, as well as cognitive evaluations that evaluate actual brain function.”
“We want to see how McSci correlates with different diagnoses in the future.
Dementia subtypes “I predict that it may be specifically inversely correlated with Alzheimer’s disease. In my clinical experience as a neuropsychologist, the fewer subjective complaints of cognitive decline, the more likely it is to have Alzheimer’s disease.”
— Karen D. Sullivan, PhD, ABPP
MNT We spoke again Jasdeep S. Handal, PsyD, ABPP-CNSpeaking about the study, Dr. David G. Schneider, director of the Center for Memory and Healthy Aging at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center and associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine in New Jersey, said:
Handal said the initial reaction to the study has been cautiously enthusiastic.
“The introduction of a well-validated self-report measure such as the McSCI-S may be a useful tool for early detection and treatment,” he explained, “We also appreciate this study’s comprehensive approach in developing and validating the McSCI-S. The McSCI-S’s excellent internal consistency and significant associations with established objective cognitive measures highlight its potential utility in both clinical and research settings.”
“This enthusiasm is tempered by caution,” Handal continues. “First, reliance on self-report data, although valuable, may be susceptible to a variety of biases. Factors such as deficits, mood disorders, personality traits, and inadequate awareness of the inherent subjectivity of self-assessments may affect the accuracy of the McSCI-S. Furthermore, the cutoff score ≥24 was chosen because it has high sensitivity, but has relatively low specificity, raising concerns about false positives. These issues may have implications for integrating the McSCI-S into clinical practice.”
Handal suggested that next research steps include validation studies in more diverse populations and different geographic regions, as well as longitudinal studies that follow patients over a longer period of time.
“Another important step will be to correlate McSCI-S results with additional objective measures, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
“Integrating subjective assessments with objective biological markers may improve diagnostic accuracy and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the cognitive changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.”
— Jasdeep S. Handal, PsyD, ABPP-CN
