Sarah Pakzad
Context: The average nursing home residents in Canada face many health challenges and cognitive and emotional problems overlap with the natural aging process, thus making them difficult to detect. Therefore, better assessment approach in long-term care setting is needed.
Objective: To verify if early identification of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in an elderly care facility allows better management of dementia.
Design: A longitudinal study.
Setting: Nursing home.
Participants: 35 nursing home residents (NB) were neuropsychologically tested and follow-up assessments were set for every 6 months for 3 years.
Main outcome measures: The paper and pencil neuropsychological testing included the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Wechsler’s Digit Symbol subscale (WAIS-R, Digit symbol), the Bell's Test, the Trail Making Test A and B, and the Geriatric Depression Scale-30 items (GDS-30).
Results: Cognitive statuses of the individuals were Alzheimer’s disease, MCI or unspecified dementia, and reported chronic comorbid conditions.
Conclusion: The base line data profile indicates that the following aspects need to be taken into consideration: mortality, medications effect on cognitive performance and affect and their implication on dementia. These factors would help in better understanding and instigate better treatment and care in nursing home.
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