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Dementia Screening Tools in Primary Care: What is the Current Screening Tests Scenario?

Maria Gabriela Trocoli Zanetti, Joyce de Souza Silveira Ribeiro, Nayra Almeida da Silva, Sandra Purchio Duarte Leite, Nayara Marques, Isabela F Gattas Vernaglia

More than 35 million people worldwide suffer from dementia syndromes, numbers that are expected to triple in up to 40 years and Brazil follows this trend of growth. As the world population is aging and in old age these syndromes are more common, health services are looking for ways to reduce the difficulties of assertive diagnosis of dementia syndromes in primary care. The objective of the study was to conduct a systematic literature review on the main tools used for the screening of dementia syndromes in primary care, in order to assess whether there is any more appropriate cognitive screening test. There was a systematic review of reviews, with pre-registration in PROSPERO 246275. The PubMed electronic database has been consulted for relevant publications. The review started on 20 August 2020. The following search strategies were employed: ((dementia (Mesh)) AND primary care (MeSH Terms)) AND ((diagnosis (MeSH Terms)). The publications returned by the search strategies were examined to identify possible duplicates and the remaining ones were examined in two stages. Two independent reviewers evaluated each article and inconsistencies in the inclusion decisions were remedied by discussion and consensus. Five specific articles on the theme were selected. It was concluded that the level of schooling directly focuses on the effectiveness and results of different tests, making it evident that effective tests for one population do not suit another and thus new, more complete tools need to be developed and applied for a broader screening capacity.