Photo Credit: Yutthana Gaetgeaw

According to study findings published online in Frontiers in Medicine, a self-administered gerocognitive examination (SAGE) is easily incorporated into primary care provider (PCP) visits, and its use significantly increases detection of new cognitive conditions/concerns in older adults. Study authors compared PCP visits with and without using the self-administered SAGE to determine differences in identification rates of new cognitive disorders. The analysis included 300 patients (aged 65 to 89 years) without diagnosed cognitive disorders completing a nonacute office visit. The researchers found that when patients utilized SAGE, the PCP documented the detection of new cognitive conditions/concerns six times as often (9% vs 1.5%). For those with cognitively impaired SAGE scores, the detection rate was nearly fourfold higher, while patients having impaired SAGE scores and informant concerns were 15-fold as likely to have new cognitive conditions/concerns documented.