New dementia tool predicts when to expect symptoms to start

Australian researchers say they have invented a first-of-its-kind tool that can accurately predict when a person will first experience symptoms of dementia based on their age and interview responses.

The Florey Dementia Index was created using neuropsychological data from nearly 3,800 healthy participants enrolled in three Alzheimer’s disease studies. The researchers predicted when these adults would develop symptoms of dementia and compared the estimate to the actual age of their diagnoses.

“Our test now needs to be validated prospectively, but could potentially be used as a screening tool for people over 60 who have no symptoms of mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease, especially for those at risk,” said Nicholas (Yijun ) Pan, one. researcher at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Australia.

Pan wrote an article published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open that revealed the results of the model, which had a margin of error of about 18 months for mild cognitive impairment and eight months for dementia.

The tool relies on patients’ scores on the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), which assesses memory, judgment, hobbies and other lifestyle factors based on an interview with them and their caregiver.

Dr. Liron Sinvani, Northwell’s director of inpatient geriatric services, told The Post that the CDR is “pretty comprehensive” but “very rarely used in routine clinical practice, where providers opt for a shorter assessment.”

“So that kind of calls into question the practicality of that [dementia tool]even though now there are electronic versions of this assessment”, said Sinvani. “But, you know, the person doing this assessment requires training and it can take 20 minutes, sometimes more.”

The Florey Dementia Index is not available to healthcare professionals, nor has it been tested in clinical settings. Researchers hope it will eventually give patients more time to make decisions about their care.

Nearly 7 million Americans have been diagnosed with dementia, which slowly erodes memory, thinking skills and the ability to perform basic tasks.

There is no cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s, but some medications can help alleviate or temporarily slow some symptoms.

“Dementia is a chronic progressive disease that is irreversible at this point. There is no meaningful treatment that can change the course of the disease,” Sinvani said.

“So the question is,” Sinvani continued, “would someone like to know if or when they’re going to develop dementia, and could that information help someone, or could it make them more nervous?”