There are different types of neurocognitive disorders ( i.e., mild and major) that vary in symptom presentation, degree of impairment, prognosis, and treatment. Early and accurate diagnosis enables clinicians to educate patients and their families on symptoms and prognoses and to advise on treatment and support options. Further, recognition of cognitive impairments allows clinicians to more effectively monitor safety and adherence to treatment, determine when to include family in treatment/decision making, and make accommodations during visits (such as providing materials and instructions the patient can understand and remember). Screening for cognitive deficits facilitates early identification of these disorders, which, in turn, helps providers determine when to refer patients to neurology, psychology, or geriatric specialists for more extensive evaluation. As the population of older adults in the United States continues to rise, recognition and prevention of neurocognitive disorders becomes increasingly important. Additionally, misdiagnosing of neurocognitive disorders can pose unnecessary psychological and emotional harm to patients and their families and also lead to incorrect treatment and undue healthcare costs.Ĭognitive decline is the leading cause of functional impairment among older adults. It is important for clinicians to remember that screeners should not be used to diagnosis patients with neurocognitive disorders instead, they should be used to determine whether further evaluation is warranted. We propose that the use of Cognivue ® cognitive screening tool be closely reviewed until more research proves that the test meets the standards for reliability and validity. The MoCA was determined to be the preferred instrument due to its high sensitivity and specificity (100% and 87%, respectively) when screening for cognitive impairment. There was 43% agreement between Cognivue ® and the MoCA in identifying patients with cognitive impairment, and individual subtests were weakly correlated. Forty-two (72%) patients screened positive on one or both of the assessments. Sixteen (28%) patients screened negative for cognitive impairment on both assessments. The results of patient performance using these two instruments were analyzed. Patients completed cognitive screening on Cognivue ®, a new Food and Drug Administration-cleared computer screening device, and the MoCA. A total of 58 patients aged 55 and over participated in this comparison study. We compared the use of Cognivue ® to use of the montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) as a cognitive screening tool.

We focus on the importance of utilizing psychometrically valid cognitive screening tools when assessing for cognitive decline in older adults in a psychiatric outpatient setting. In this editorial we comment on the article by Cahn-Hidalgo D published in a recent issue of the World Journal of Psychiatry 2020 10(1) 1-11.

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