title: Mortality risk assessment in the elderly: the utility of delayed word recall.
abstract: Cognitive impairment is an important predictor of mortality in the elderly. An extended delayed word recall (DWR) is one of the most sensitive tests for cognitive impairment. A mortality study was performed on a population of long-term care insurance applicants aged 70 and older who were underwritten during the years 1995-2003 and who had cognitive testing by DWR. Within this relatively short period of time, individuals with DWR score of 0-5 compared to those with DWR score of 6-10 had a markedly worse mortality outcome overall and also when analyzed by gender, underwriting age, underwriting year or smoking status.
authors.affiliation: Gen Re LifeHealth, 695 East Main Street, Stamford, CT 06901, USA. laura_vecchione@genre.com
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vecchione
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Golus
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009026:Mortality; D020379:Risk Adjustment; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology