Validity of the Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition case-finding instrument for identification of dementia subgroups and staging of dementia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to examine the psychometric properties of the Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition (BASIC) case-finding instrument in clinical settings focusing on (i) test-retest reliability, (ii) the discriminative validity of BASIC and its components for identification of Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia and non-AD dementia, and (iii) the association of expert clinical rating of cognitive status with BASIC performance. METHODS: The test-retest reliability analysis was based on a sample of general practice patients (n = 59) retested with a mean interval of 19 days. Discriminative validity analyses and analysis of the association of cognitive status with BASIC performance were based on data from the primary validation study of BASIC in memory clinics. RESULTS: The test-retest reliability of BASIC was high (r = 0.861). No significant difference in discriminative validity was found for identification of AD dementia (sensitivity = 0.99, specificity = 0.98) and non-AD dementia (sensitivity = 0.90, specificity = 0.98). All components of BASIC contributed to the high discriminative validity of both AD and non-AD dementia. BASIC performance was significantly correlated with expert clinical rating of the cognitive status of patients. A crude staging model for cognitive status using BASIC score intervals had superior classification accuracy (70%) compared to a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score range-based model (58% accuracy). CONCLUSIONS: BASIC is a reliable and valid case-finding instrument for AD dementia and non-AD dementia in clinical settings. BASIC performance is significantly associated with the degree of cognitive impairment, and BASIC seems to be superior to MMSE for staging of impairment.

Association of Socioeconomic Status With Dementia Diagnosis Among Older Adults in Denmark.

Importance: Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been identified as a risk factor for the development of dementia. However, few studies have focused on the association between SES and dementia diagnostic evaluation on a population level. Objective: To investigate whether household income (HHI) is associated with dementia diagnosis and cognitive severity at the time of diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population- and register-based cross-sectional study analyzed health, social, and economic data obtained from various Danish national registers. The study population comprised individuals who received a first-time referral for a diagnostic evaluation for dementia to the secondary health care sector of Denmark between January 1, 2017, and December 17, 2018. Dementia-related health data were retrieved from the Danish Quality Database for Dementia. Data analysis was conducted from October 2019 to December 2020. Exposures: Annual HHI (used as a proxy for SES) for 2015 and 2016 was obtained from Statistics Denmark and categorized into upper, middle, and lower tertiles within 5-year interval age groups. Main Outcomes and Measures: Dementia diagnoses (Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson disease dementia, or other) and cognitive stages at diagnosis (cognitively intact; mild cognitive impairment but not dementia; or mild, moderate, or severe dementia) were retrieved from the database. Univariable and multivariable logistic and linear regressions adjusted for age group, sex, region of residence, household type, period (2017 and 2018), medication type, and medical conditions were analyzed for a possible association between HHI and receipt of dementia diagnosis. Results: Among the 10 191 individuals (mean [SD] age, 75 [10] years; 5476 women [53.7%]) included in the study, 8844 (86.8%) were diagnosed with dementia. Individuals with HHI in the upper tertile compared with those with lower-tertile HHI were less likely to receive a dementia diagnosis after referral (odds ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.55-0.78) and, if diagnosed with dementia, had less severe cognitive stage (ß, -0.16; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.10). Individuals with middle-tertile HHI did not significantly differ from those with lower-tertile HHI in terms of dementia diagnosis (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.77-1.09) and cognitive stage at diagnosis (ß, 0.01; 95% CI, -0.04 to 0.06). Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this study revealed a social inequality in dementia diagnostic evaluation: in Denmark, people with higher income seem to receive an earlier diagnosis. Public health strategies should target people with lower SES for earlier dementia detection and intervention.

Socioeconomic position and mental health care use before and after first redeemed antidepressant and time until subsequent contact to psychologist or psychiatrists: a nationwide Danish follow-up study.

PURPOSE: The purpose was to investigate inequalities in access to care among people with possible depression. METHOD: In this nationwide register-based cohort study of 30,593 persons, we observed the association between socioeconomic position (SEP, education/income) and mental health care use (MHCU) four months before the date of first redeemed antidepressant (Index Date/ID) and 12 months afterwards-and time to contact to psychologist/psychiatrist (PP). Logistic, Poisson, and Cox regression models were used, adjusted for sex, age, cohabitation, and psychiatric comorbidity. RESULTS: Before ID, high SEP was associated with less GP contact (general practitioner), higher odds ratios for GP-Mental Health Counseling (GP-MHC), psychologist contact, and admissions to hospital. This disparity decreased the following 12 months for GP-MHC but increased for contact to psychologist; same pattern was seen for rate of visits. However, the low-income group had more contact to private psychiatrist. For the 25,217 individuals with no MHCU before ID, higher educational level was associated with almost twice the rate of contact to PP the following 12 months; for the high-income group, the rate was 40% higher. 10% had contact to PP within 40 days after ID in the group with higher education; whereas, 10% of those with a short education would reach PP by day 120. High-income group had faster access as well. CONCLUSION: Being in high SEP was positively associated with MHCU, before and after ID, and more rapid PP contact, most explicit when measured by education. Co-payment for psychologist may divert care towards private psychiatrist for low-income groups.

Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition Questionnaire (BASIC-Q)-Development and validation of a new tool for identification of cognitive impairment in community settings.

OBJECTIVES: Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition (BASIC), which combines self- and informant report with cognitive testing, was previously found to be highly accurate in identification of dementia and cognitive impairment. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a questionnaire version of BASIC, the BASIC-Q, for use in community settings. METHODS: In order to construct a questionnaire version of BASIC, we substituted cognitive testing with questions regarding orientation. BASIC-Q was validated based on further analysis of data from the primary BASIC validation study, where patients consecutively referred from general practice were tested at their first memory clinic admission prior to diagnosis. Control participants were primarily recruited among participating patients' relatives. Expert clinical diagnosis was subsequently used as reference standard for estimation of classification accuracy. RESULTS: A high discriminative validity (sensitivity 0.92, specificity 0.97) for cognitive impairment (n = 159) vs socio-demographically matched control participants (n = 109) was found. In comparison, the MMSE had 0.76 sensitivity and 0.81 specificity. Administration time for BASIC-Q was less than 5 minutes compared to approximately 10 minutes for the MMSE. CONCLUSIONS: BASIC-Q is a brief, efficient and valid tool for identification of cognitive impairment in a clinical setting. Further validation in a community setting is needed.

Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition (BASIC)-Validation of a new dementia case-finding instrument integrating cognitive assessment with patient and informant report.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new brief and accurate case-finding instrument for dementia and cognitive impairment. Previous research indicates that combining cognitive tests with informant and/or patient report may improve accuracy in dementia case-finding. The Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition (BASIC) integrates these three sources of information. METHODS: BASIC was prospectively validated in five memory clinics. Patients consecutively referred from general practice were tested at their initial visit prior to diagnosis. Control participants were primarily recruited among participating patients' relatives. Expert clinical diagnosis was subsequently used as gold standard for estimation of the classification accuracy of BASIC. RESULTS: A very high discriminative validity (specificity 0.98, sensitivity 0.95) for dementia (n = 122) versus socio-demographically matched control participants (n = 109) was found. In comparison, the MMSE had 0.90 specificity and 0.82 sensitivity. Extending the discriminative validity analysis to cognitive impairment (both dementia and MCI, n = 162) only slightly reduced the discriminative validity of BASIC whereas the discriminative validity of the MMSE was substantially attenuated. Administration time for BASIC was approximately 5 minutes compared with 10 to 15 minutes for the MMSE. CONCLUSIONS: BASIC was found to be an efficient and valid case-finding instrument for dementia and cognitive impairment in a memory clinic setting.

Are perceived barriers to accessing mental healthcare associated with socioeconomic position among individuals with symptoms of depression? Questionnaire-results from the Lolland-Falster Health Study, a rural Danish population study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if perceived barriers to accessing mental healthcare (MHC) among individuals with symptoms of depression are associated with their socio-economic position (SEP). DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire-based population survey from the Lolland-Falster Health Study (LOFUS) 2016-17 of 5076 participants. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 372 individuals, with positive scores for depression according to the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), participating in LOFUS . INTERVENTIONS: A set of five questions on perceived barriers to accessing professional care for mental health problem was posed to individuals with symptoms of depression (MDI score >20). OUTCOMES: The association between SEP (as measured by educational attainment, employment status and financial strain) and five different types of barriers to accessing MHC were analysed in separate multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for gender and age. RESULTS: A total of 314 out of 372 (84%) completed the survey questions and reported experiencing barriers to MHC access. Worry about expenses related to seeking or continuing MHC was a considerable barrier for 30% of the individuals responding and, as such, the greatest problem among the five types of barriers. 22% perceived Stigma as a barrier to accessing MHC, but there was no association between perceived Stigma and SEP. Transportation was not only the barrier of least concern for individuals in general but also the issue with the greatest and most consistent socio-economic disparity (OR 2.99, 95% CI 1.19 to 7.52) for the lowest vs highest educational groups and, likewise, concerning Expenses (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.34 to 5.76) for the same groups. CONCLUSION: Issues associated with Expenses and Transport were more frequently perceived as barriers to accessing MHC for people in low SEP compared with people in high SEP. Stigma showed no association with SEP.Informed written consent was obtained. Region Zealand's Ethical Committee on Health Research (SJ-421) and the Danish Data Protection Agency (REG-24-2015) approved the study.

The Effect of Economic Assets on Mortality in Patients with Dementia: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the effect of economic assets on mortality in patients with dementia in a national cohort of elderly individuals aged 65 or older. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of economic assets on mortality in patients with dementia. METHODS: Incidence of dementia and all-cause mortality was analyzed with incidence rate ratios (IRR) in three different categories of economic assets by means of Cox regression models. RESULTS: A total of 874,246 individuals aged 65+ were included. The risk of receiving a dementia diagnosis was highest in the low economic asset group (IRR 1.19). Patients with dementia had a higher mortality compared to those without a diagnosis (IRR 2.85). The mortality in the dementia group was lowest in the high economic asset group (IRR 3.31). However, the increase associated with dementia was lowest within the low economic assets group (IRR 2.57). CONCLUSION: Mortality is increased with a dementia diagnosis and highest for the low economic asset group. However, the increase in mortality attributable to dementia was higher in the high economic assets group.

Socioeconomic position, symptoms of depression and subsequent mental healthcare treatment: a Danish register-based 6-month follow-up study on a population survey.

OBJECTIVE: Examine whether the severity of symptoms of depression was associated with the type of mental healthcare treatment (MHCT) received, independent of socioeconomic position (SEP). DESIGN: Register-based 6-month follow-up study on participants from the Danish General Suburban Population Study (GESUS) 2010-2013, who scored the Major Depression Inventory (MDI). PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen thousand and eleven respondents from GESUS. INTERVENTIONS: The MHCT of the participants was tracked in national registers 4 months prior and 6 months after their MDI scores. MHCT was graduated in levels. SEP was defined by years of formal postsecondary education and income categorised into three levels. Data were analysed using logistic and Poisson regression analyses. OUTCOMES: MHCT included number of contacts with: general practitioner (GP), GP mental health counselling, psychologist, psychiatrist, emergency contacts, admissions to psychiatric hospitals and prescriptions of antidepressants. RESULTS: For 547 respondents with moderate to severe symptoms of depression there was no difference across SEP in use of services, contact (y/n), frequency of contact or level of treatment, except respondents with low SEP had more frequent contact with their GP. However, of the 547 respondents , 10% had no treatment contacts at all, and 47% had no treatment beyond GP consultation. Among respondents with no/few symptoms of depression, postsecondary education ≥3 years was associated with more contact with specialised services (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.92; 95% CI 1.18 to 3.13); however, this difference did not apply for income; additionally, high SEP was associated with fewer prescriptions of antidepressants (education aOR 0.69; CI 0.50 to 0.95; income aOR 0.56, CI 0.39 to 0.80) compared with low SEP. CONCLUSION: Participants with symptoms of depression were treated according to the severity of their symptoms, independent of SEP; however, more than half with moderate to severe symptoms received no treatment beyond GP consultation. People in low SEP and no/few symptoms of depression were more often treated with antidepressants. The study was approved by The Danish Data Protection Agency Journal number 2015-41-3984. Accessible at: https://www.datatilsynet.dk/fortegnelsen/soeg-i-fortegnelsen/.

How well do general practitioners know their elderly patients' social relations and feelings of loneliness?

BACKGROUND: Social relationships are important to people and affect their quality of life, morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between elderly patients' descriptions of their social relations and feelings of loneliness, and their general practitioners' assessments of these. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in 12 general practices in the Capital Region of Denmark. During a three-week period each practice asked their patients aged 65 and older to fill out a questionnaire regarding health, social relations and loneliness; the general practitioner (GP) filled out a matching questionnaire regarding their perception of the patient's social relations and loneliness. Data were collected from February to September 2014. RESULTS: Of the 767 eligible patients 476 were included in the study. For 447 patients both GP and patient had answered at least one question on loneliness or social participation. The correlations between patients' and GPs' answers regarding social participation and loneliness were low (0.04-0.26). While GPs were less able to identify lonely patients and patients with low social participation, they were better at identifying not-lonely patients or those with high social participation. It was especially difficult for GPs to identify lonely patients when they were not living alone or if the GP believed the patient had high social participation. CONCLUSION: GPs have difficulty identifying patients who are lonely or have low social participation and this ability is further diminished when the patients do not live alone or if the GP believes them to have high social participation. Given the consequences of loneliness and limited social participation on patients' health and well-being, and GPs' limited ability to identify these patients, GPs' obligations and resources in this area need to be clarified.

Impact of socioeconomic position and distance on mental health care utilization: a nationwide Danish follow-up study.

PURPOSE: To determine the impact of socioeconomic position (SEP) and distance to provider on outpatient mental health care utilization among incident users of antidepressants. METHOD: A nationwide register-based cohort study of 50,374 person-years. RESULTS: Persons in low SEP were more likely to have outpatient psychiatrist contacts [odds ratio (OR) 1.25; confidence interval (CI) 1.17-1.34], but less likely to consult a co-payed psychologist (OR 0.49; CI 0.46-0.53) and to get mental health service from a GP (MHS-GP) (OR 0.81; CI 0.77-0.86) compared to persons in high SEP after adjusting for socio-demographics, comorbidity and car ownership. Furthermore, persons in low SEP who had contact to any of these therapists tended to have lower rates of visits compared to those in high SEP. When distance to services increased by 5 km, the rate of visits to outpatient psychiatrist tended to decrease by 5% in the lowest income group (IRR 0.95; CI 0.94-0.95) and 1% in the highest (IRR 0.99; CI 0.99-1.00). Likewise, contact to psychologists decreased by 11% in the lowest income group (IRR 0.89; CI 0.85-0.94), whereas rate of visits did not interact. CONCLUSION: Patients in low SEP have relatively lower utilization of mental health services even when services are free at delivery; co-payment and distance to provider aggravate the disparities in utilization between patients in high SEP and patients in low SEP.

Exploring the concurrent validity of the nationwide assessment of permanent nursing home residence in Denmark - A cross-sectional data analysis using two administrative registries.

BACKGROUND: Many register studies make use of information about permanent nursing home residents. Statistics Denmark (StatD) identifies nursing home residents by two different indirect methods, one based on reports from the municipalities regarding home care in taken place in a nursing home, and the other based on an algorithm created by StatD. The aim of the present study was to validate StatD's nursing home register using dedicated administrative municipality records on individual nursing home residents as gold standard. METHODS: In total, ten Danish municipalities were selected. Within each Danish Region, we randomly selected one municipality reporting to Stat D (Method 1) and one not reporting where instead an algorithm created by StatD was used to discover nursing home residents (Method 2). Method 1 means that municipalities reported to Stat D whether home care has taken place in a nursing home or in a private home. Method 2 is based on an algorithm created by Stat D for the municipalities where Method 1 is not applicable. Our gold standard was the information from the local administrative system in all ten selected municipalities. Each municipality provided a list with all individuals > 65 years living in a nursing home on January 1st, 2013 as well as the central personal number. This was compared to the list of individuals >65 living in nursing home facilities in the same ten municipalities on January 1st, 2013 retrieved from StatD. RESULTS: According to the data received directly from the municipalities, which was used as our gold Standard 3821 individuals were identified as nursing home residents. The StatD register identified 6,141 individuals as residents. Additionally, 556 of the individuals identified by the municipalities were not identified in the StatD register. Overall sensitivity for the ten municipalities in the StatD nursing home register was 0.85 (95% CI 0.84-0.87) and the PPV was 0.53 (95% CI 0.52-0.54). The municipalities for which nursing home status was based on the StatD algorithm (method 2) had a sensitivity of 0.84 (95% CI 0.82-0.86) and PPV of 0.48 (95% CI 0.46-0.50). Both slightly lower than the reporting municipalities (method 1) where the sensitivity was 0.87(95% CI 0.85-0.88) and the PPV was 0.57 (95% CI 0.56-0.59). Additionally, the sensitivity and PPV of the Stat D register varied heavily among the ten municipalities from 0.51 (95% CI 0.43-0.59) to 0.96 (95% CI 0.95-0.98) and PPV correspondingly, from 0.14 (95% CI: 0.11-0.17) to 0.73 (95% CI 0.69-0.77). CONCLUSIONS: The overall PPV of StatD nursing home register was low and differences between municipalities existed. Even in countries with extensive nation-wide registers, validating studies should be conducted for outcomes based on these registers.

The effectiveness of computer reminders versus postal reminders for improving quality assessment for point-of-care testing in primary care: a randomized controlled trial.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the relative effectiveness of electronic and postal reminders for increasing adherence to the quality assurance programme for the international normalized ratio (INR) point-of-care testing (POCT) device in primary care. METHODS: All 213 family practices that use the Elective Laboratory of the Capital Region, Denmark, and regularly conduct INR POCT were randomly allocated into two similarly sized groups. During the 4-month intervention, these practices were sent either computer reminders (ComRem) or computer-generated postal reminders (Postal) if they did not perform a split test to check the quality of their INR POCT for each calendar month. The adherence of the practices was tracked during the subsequent 8 months subdivided into two 4-month periods both without intervention. Outcomes were measures of split test procedure adherence. RESULTS: Both interventions were associated with an increase in adherence to the split test procedure - a factor 6.00 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.46-7.72] and 8.22 [95% CI 5.87-11.52] for ComRem and Postal, respectively - but there is no evidence that one of the interventions was more effective than the other. In the ComRem group, the expected number of split tests (out of four) was 2.54 (95% CI 2.33-2.76) versus 2.44 (95% CI 2.24-2.65) in the Postal group, P = 0.14. There was a slight decrease in adherence over the two follow-ups, but neither intervention was better than the other in achieving a lasting improvement in adherence. CONCLUSION: Computer reminders are as efficient as postal reminders in increasing adherence to a quality assurance programme for the INR POCT device in primary care.

The effectiveness of computer reminders for improving quality assessment for point-of-care testing in general practice--a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Computer reminders are increasingly being applied in efforts to improve quality and patient safety. However, research is still needed to establish the effectiveness of different kinds of reminders in various settings. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of computer reminders for improving adherence to a quality assessment scheme for point-of-care testing in general practice. METHOD: The study was conducted as a randomized controlled crossover trial among general practices in the Capital Region of Denmark. The intervention consisted of sending computer reminders (ComRem) to practices not adhering to the guideline recommendations of split testing for hemoglobin and glucose. Practices were randomly allocated into two groups. During the first follow-up period, one of the groups received the ComRem intervention together with the general implementation activities (GIA), while the other group only received the GIA. For the second follow-up period, the intervention was switched between the two groups. Outcomes were measured as split test procedure adherence. RESULTS: A total of 142 practices were randomly allocated to the early intervention group and 144 practices to the late intervention group (the control group in the first follow-up period). In the first intervention period, the mean number of split tests performed in the group receiving ComRem group increased from 1.22 to 3.76 (out of eight possible tests) while the mean number of split tests increased from 1.11 to 2.35 in the group targeted by GIA only (p = 0.0059). After the crossover, a similar effect of reminders was observed. Furthermore, the developments in outcome measures over time showed a strong effect of computer reminders beyond the intervention periods. CONCLUSION: There was a significant effect of computer reminders on adherence to the quality assessment scheme for point-of-care testing. Thus, computer reminders seem to be useful for supporting the implementation of relatively simple procedures for quality and safety. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: http://NCT01152177.