Study: Phone Questionnaire Helps Detect Early Alzheimer's Symptoms

A new phone questionnaire provides a way to reach out to persons with early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease that might otherwise go undetected, according to a report in the August 2003 issue of the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management.

The questionnaire tests participants' ability to recall information and determines whether they need help with remembering to take medications or with planning a trip for errands.

Lead researcher Dr. Howard Fillit of the Institute for the Study of Aging in New York and his colleagues developed the questionnaire with the help of 60 cognitively impaired individuals between the ages of 57 and 99 years.

When used in a population in which one in 10 persons has dementia, a positive result on the questionnaire -- meaning that further diagnostic evaluation is needed -- accurately predicts cognitive impairment 42 percent of the time.

Nevertheless, the researchersr said their questionnaire produces a much higher level of accuracy than other common screening tests.

The questionnaire was designed to be administered to new enrollees in Medicare managed care health plans. Requiring only a few minutes to complete, the questionnaire can be administered over the phone by a nonclinical interviewer and scored and interpreted quickly after completion.

Other sources: Turner-White Communications