DOI: 10.1002/alz.078233 ISSN: 1552-5260

Analysis of the screening process in the Brazilian Subjective Cognitive Decline Cohort

Victória Tizeli Souza, Simone Sieben da Mota, Bruno De Oliveira De Marchi, Carolina Rodrigues Formoso, Gabriela Raquel Paz Rivas, Guilherme Da Silva Carvalho, Haniel Bispo De Souza, Lucas Bastos Beltrami, Samuel Masao Suwa, Wesley Slaviero, Rhaná Carolina Santos, Sarah Vitoria Bristot Carnevalli, Ana Letícia Amorim de Albuquerque, Manuella Edler Zandoná Giordani, Matheus Zschornack Strelow, Wyllians Vendramini Borelli, Giovanna Carello‐Collar, Marcia L Fagundes Chaves, Eduardo R Zimmer, Raphael Machado Castilhos
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Neurology (clinical)
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Health Policy
  • Epidemiology

Abstract

Background

Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) is conceptualized as cognitive complaints in cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals and is associated with progressive cognitive decline. Recruiting these individuals can be challenging, especially due to the low education levels and limited access to information by a portion of the Brazilian population.

Objective

We aimed to analyze the profile of the screened individuals during the recruitment process in the ongoing Brazilian Subjective Cognitive Decline (BRASCODE) Cohort at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Southern Brazil.

Methods

We analyzed the sociodemographic characteristics of the screened individuals recruited predominantly through social media and newspaper invitation. This study evaluated CU individuals aged 65+ years‐old with cognitive complaints. Exclusion criteria were the presence of uncontrolled psychiatric/clinical illness, cerebrovascular disease, and the use of psychotropic drugs. The recruitment was carried out exclusively by phone calls in two phases. In the first one, the exclusion criteria were applied and, in the second, the following scales were performed: Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS‐M); Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD‐2); Geriatric Depression Scale; and the Subjective Cognitive Decline Scale.

Results

From February to December 2022, 406 individuals were recruited. Most were women (74.6%; n = 303), with a median (SD) age of 71.6 (5.8) years‐old and 11 (5.2) years of formal education. The main reasons for exclusion in phone call 1 were clinical illness (39.9%; n = 59) and cerebrovascular disease (10.1%; n = 15). In those individuals evaluated in the phone call 2 (62.3%; n = 256), most were excluded because presented TICS‐M score below cut‐off (31.6%; n = 80), absence of cognitive complaints (29.6%; n = 75), and GAD‐2 (7%; n = 18) and GDS (3.5%; n = 9) scores above the cut‐off (Figure 1). Only 74 (18.2%) individuals were included in the cohort.

Conclusion

The high screening failure seen in our study and the predominance of women with high educational level reveal the difficulty in screening SCD individuals and indicate the need for alternative recruitment methods, especially in a setting with low education.

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