Dementia and mild cognitive impairment screening in an emergency homeless shelter

INTRODUCTION Older adults represent the fastest growing segment of the homeless community. Little is known about the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in this population. METHODS Dementia and MCI screening using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was incorporated into...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Alzheimer's & dementia Vol. 20; no. 5; pp. 3666 - 3670
Main Authors:	Ross, Heather M., Dzenga, Primrose, Myers, Martha, Squires, Alisa, Duncan, Stephanie, Caradine, Jamilyn, Scharf, Phillip, Bowman, Diana M.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States John Wiley and Sons Inc 01-05-2024
Subjects:	Aged Aged, 80 and over Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnosis Cognitive Dysfunction - epidemiology dementia Dementia - diagnosis Dementia - epidemiology Emergency Shelter Female homelessness Humans Ill-Housed Persons - psychology Ill-Housed Persons - statistics & numerical data Male Mass Screening - methods Mental Status and Dementia Tests - statistics & numerical data Middle Aged mild cognitive impairment Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data Prevalence screening Short Report Short Reports dementia screening mild cognitive impairment homelessness
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Summary:	INTRODUCTION Older adults represent the fastest growing segment of the homeless community. Little is known about the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in this population. METHODS Dementia and MCI screening using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was incorporated into the standard senior evaluation for adult clients aged ≥ 55 in a large emergency homeless shelter. RESULTS In a 6‐week period, 104 of 112 (92.9%) assessments were positive for dementia or MCI using a standard cutoff of 26, and 81 (72.3%) were positive using a conservative cutoff of 23. There was no significant difference in MoCA scores based on sex or education level, and no significant correlation between age and MoCA score. DISCUSSION Older adults experiencing homelessness may have a high likelihood of dementia or MCI. Routine MoCA screening in older adults experiencing homelessness is feasible and can help to identify services needed to successfully exit homelessness.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1552-5260 1552-5279 1552-5279
DOI:	10.1002/alz.13763