Diagnosing dementia and cognitive dysfunction in the elderly in primary health care: A systematic review

ABSTRACT. Dementia is a public health issue making the screening and diagnosing of dementia and its prodromal phases in all health settings imperative. Objective: using PRISMA, this systematic review aimed to identify how low-, middle-, and high-income countries establish dementia and cognitive dysfunction diagnoses in primary health care. Methods: studies from the past five years in English, Spanish, and Portuguese were retrieved from Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Lilacs, Scielo, and Web of Science. Of 1987 articles, 33 were selected for analysis. Results: only three articles were from middle-income countries and there were no studies from low-income countries. The most used instrument was the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia criteria were based on experts’ recommendation as well as on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), respectively. Conclusion: differences between these criteria among high- and middle-income countries were observed.