Newswise — June 4, 2024—(BRONX, NY)— The underdiagnosis of dementia, especially among Black and Hispanic patients, is a long-standing challenge in medicine. A new study, published today in Nature Medicine , finds that an easy, five-minute assessment paired with recommendations built into the electronic medical record system led to a three-fold improvement in diagnosis and treatment for patients in a primary care setting compared to a control group. The “5-Cog paradigm,” which was developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System , dramatically enhances the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and dementia, and represents a new, better way to guide initial treatment.
“Dementia is often undiagnosed in primary care—and even when diagnosed, it often goes untreated,” said Joe Verghese, M.B.B.
S. , the paper’s senior author and developer of the 5-Cog paradigm. “Until now, most approaches to detecting cognitive impairment take a long time, are expensive, and require a neurologist.
And since existing tests were developed in white populations, they don’t account for cultural differences. We’ve tried to address these inadequacies with current tests, and the findings from our study show meaningful progress on all fronts.” Dr.
Verghese is professor and director of the division of cognitive and motor aging in the Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology , the Judith and Burton P. Resnick Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Rese.
