Screening Younger Individuals in a Primary Care Setting Flags Putative Dementia Cases and Correlates Gastrointestinal...

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Geriatrics
• Public Health

Background:

• Dementia diagnosis is difficult in primary care due to resource limitations.
• A primary care cohort was established in Portugal's Aveiro district to address this.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess dementia prevalence and identify risk factors in a Portuguese primary care setting.
• To evaluate the feasibility of early dementia screening in primary care.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 568 participants underwent cognitive testing and APOE genotyping.
• Data collected included demographics, comorbidities, and functional assessments.

Main Results:

• Dementia prevalence was 12%, with significant correlations between Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores and education, activities of daily living (ADL), aging, depression, gender, APOE ε4 allele, and comorbidities.
• A novel correlation between gastrointestinal disease and higher CDR scores was observed.
• 71 individuals aged 50-65 years were identified for follow-up, suggesting potential early-onset cases.

Conclusions:

• Primary care settings can effectively screen for dementia, including in younger populations (50-65 years).
• Identifying individuals with potentially early-onset dementia is feasible in primary care.
• Further research into the link between gastrointestinal disease and dementia is warranted.