A Structured Interview for Evaluation of Medical and Mental Risk Factors Predisposing to Early Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

BACKGROUND: Many researchers are currently trying to determine the risk factors that predispose to early onset of dementia. We analyzed the current evidence related to the medical, psychological, social, and environmental risk factors for dementia. This enabled the formulation, in the form of a questionnaire, of a structured interview that facilitates the scrupulous determination and recording of the occurrence of such predispositions in particular patients. We decided to test the practical utility of the proposed questionnaire.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We made an initial attempt to validate the usefulness of the proposed structured interview by examining 90 people ages 52–81 years. Apart of the determination of data by use of the proposed questionnaire, in 57 of these patients we performed objective measurements using the MOCA neuro-psychological test and some instruments for psycho-physical tests.
RESULTS: We demonstrated that in people with significantly worse results on the MOCA neuro-psychological test, the number of risk factors was significantly higher compared to people with better MOCA results.
CONCLUSIONS: Because many risk factors for cognitive impairment may be subject to partial modification, it seems that the elaborated and proposed scheme of the structured interview, presented also in the form of the questionnaire, could be useful in the daily practice of medical personnel.

Keywords: Alzheimer Disease, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests