Systematic Review of Dementia Risk Screening Tools in Primary Care Settings.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Neurology

Background:

• Dementia risk screening in primary care is crucial for early intervention.
• Existing screening methods require evaluation for reliability, validity, acceptability, and feasibility.
• A systematic review was conducted to address these needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and analyze dementia risk screening methods for primary care settings.
• To assess the reliability, validity, acceptability, and feasibility of identified screening tools.
• To provide recommendations for clinical practice and future research.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of full-text, peer-reviewed English articles published from database inception to September 2024.
• Searches conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and COCHRANE, with backward snowballing.
• Risk of bias assessed using established tools (Newcastle-Ottawa, Cochrane RoB V2, CASP).

Main Results:

• Eleven validated tools/scores were evaluated across 34 studies with large participant numbers.
• Most studies were from high-income countries; risk of bias was generally low.
• The Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia (CAIDE) and Lifestyle for Brain Health (LBH) tools showed acceptable validity in midlife and younger older adults (<80 years).

Conclusions:

• The CAIDE and LBH tools are recommended for dementia risk screening in primary care for adults under 80.
• Further validation is required for adults aged 80 and above.
• Research is needed to assess screening tool performance in lower-middle-income countries.