How to try this: the mini-cog.
As the population grows and the proportion of older adults increases, the incidence and prevalence of dementia are expected to increase dramatically. Health care providers' lack of awareness of current geriatrics practice and persistence in holding the outdated belief that confusion is a normal part of aging contribute to significant under recognition of dementia in all settings. Early recognition and diagnosis are critical to carrying out best practices in the care of older patients. The Mini-Cog is a simple, effective, easily administered screening tool that can uncover cognitive impairment in its earliest stages. The tool consists of a three-item recall task and a simple clock-drawing task. The Mini-Cog takes only three to five minutes to administer and requires minimal training. For a free online video demonstrating the use of this tool, go to http://links.lww.com/A204.
Carolan Doerflinger
Deirdre Mary
DM
Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA. deirdre.carolan@inova.org
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States