Levels of undetected dementia 'high'

Study calls for ongoing assessment of nursing home residents to increase awareness of the condition

A NEW study has revealed an unexpectedly high level of undetected dementia and cognitive impairment at nursing homes in the Dublin area and recommends the ongoing assessment of residents in such facilities.

Researchers found that 89 per cent of residents surveyed were cognitively impaired, 42 per cent severely and 27 per cent moderately – a much higher prevalence than previously reported.

The study was published recently in the international journal, Age and Ageing, and was supported by a grant from Atlantic Philanthropies.

It was carried out by the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre’s (DSIDC) Living with Dementia programme, based at the School of Social Work and Policy at Trinity College Dublin.

It surveyed 100 residents across four nursing homes randomly selected from 54 homes in the Dublin area.

Director of the programme, Dr Suzanne Cahill, said: “The majority of those surveyed had a severe or moderate cognitive impairment, yet only about one-third had a clinical diagnosis of dementia, so we deduced from the study that there is probably a lot of undetected dementia in nursing homes in Ireland.”

In keeping with other studies, the directors of nursing in the homes tended to underestimate the level of cognitive impairment among residents, particularly where it was mild to moderate.

The study recommends that more attention be paid in long-term care to the recognition, diagnosis and follow-up of cognitive impairment and dementia.

The Living with Dementia programme was officially launched last Thursday at a seminar on Sharing Current Research Activity on Quality of Life for the Person with Dementiaorganised by the DSIDC and sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care.

The DSIDC is a national centre for excellence in dementia based at St James’s Hospital.

The key activities of the programme include the recruitment and supervision of young academics to develop psycho-social research to tackle the stigma and marginalisation of people with dementia, enhance practice and service provision and ultimately improve quality of life for those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or the related dementias.

A new information pamphlet on memory clinics in Ireland was also launched at the seminar.

The UK Department of Health plans to make memory clinics available in every town and city over the next five years as part of its dementia strategy but there are no similar plans for Ireland.

Independently run memory clinics, of which there are nine in the Republic, are primarily concerned with the early diagnosis and treatment of memory problems.