Dementia And Cognitive Impairmentia Essay

Biology is the study of living organisms, including the behavior. Researchers in “Finding Dementia in Primary Care: The Results of a Clinical Demonstration Project,” looked at the behavior of several Veterans, 70 and older, to find ways to diagnosis them with dementia and cognitive impairment. The Veterans went through screening processes to help primary care physicians learn to diagnosis dementia and cognitive impairment in earlier stages.
Observation
Dementia is a disease that is often overlooked. Primary care physicians lack awareness of signs and symptoms.
Questions
What is an effective way to diagnosis dementia/cognitive impairment?
Develop Hypothesis
If the researchers develop a system to test for signs and symptoms of dementia
and cognitive impairment, then primary care physicians will be able to diagnosis the diseases in early stages.
Prediction
The researchers will successfully find a way to test for dementia and cognitive impairment.
Perform Experiment The first part of the researchers experiment was the Mini-Cog, which included three-word registration, a clock drawing, and three-word recall.
The second part of the screening was a 90-minute appointment with the DCC to test further behavior.
Collect Results Of the 8,063 Veterans that took part in the study, 540 were diagnosed with cognitive impairment and 432 were diagnosed with dementia.
Interpret Results The screening that was offered increased diagnosis of cognitive impairment and providers found the testing to be helpful. I think this article was, for the most part, an easy read. It made sense to me. When it came to the multiple paragraphs of results and the numbers results, I had to go a little more in depth to make sure I understood. Communication was very important for this study. The Veterans had to understand their healthcare team. The physicians had to relay important information to their team and the researchers heading this study. Since the primary care physicians are most likely to handle the care of dementia patients, it is important they understand the signs and symptoms of it to diagnosis correctly. Understanding the behavior, the signs, and the symptoms may one day lead to a cure for dementia and cognitive impairment.
References
Riley McCarten, J., Anderson, P., Kuskowski, M. A., McPherson, S. E., Borson, S., & Dysken, M. W. (2012). Finding Dementia in Primary Care: The Results of a Clinical Demonstration Project. Journal Of The American Geriatrics Society, 60(2), 210-217. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03841.x