Brief in-hospital cognitive screening anticipates complex admissions and may detect dementia

Objective: With the long-term goal of improving community health by screening for dementia, we tested the utility of integrating the Six-Item Screener (SIS) into our emergency department neurology consultations.

Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, we measured SIS performance within 24 hours of hospital arrival in 100 consecutive English-speaking patients aged ≥ 45 years. Performance was compared to patient age, previously charted cognitive impairment, and proxies for in-hospital complexity: whether or not a patient was admitted to the hospital and the number of medical studies ordered.

Results: Those with poor SIS performance were older (p = 0.02) and more likely to have previously charted cognitive impairment (p < 0.01; sensitivity 86%, specificity 77%). Poor performers were more likely to be admitted to the hospital (p = 0.04; odds ratio 3.6) and were subjected to more tests once admitted (p < 0.01), relationships that persisted after accounting for age a...