Few adults who reported subjective memory complaints discussed such issues with a health care provider, a study conducted by telephone involving more than 10,276 people shows.
Just under a quarter (22.9%) of the respondents reported discussing their memory problems with a health care professional. Even those who reported having a routine check-up within a year of the date they were surveyed were only sightly more likely to discuss their memory problem with a health care professional, compared with those who had not seen a doctor within the past year. Specifically, 25.2% of those in the former group reported taking such an action, reported Mary L. Adams of On Target Health Data.
©Yestock/thinkstockphotos.com
The respondents were aged 45 years or older and lived in 21 states. Those who reported subjective memory complaints were more likely to live in California and identify as Hispanic. They also were more likely to be aged 75 or older and currently smoke than respondents not reporting subjective memory complaints.
Respondents with functional difficulties were significantly more likely to have engaged in a conversation about their memory issues with a health care professional than those who had not reported functional difficulties, with 34.4% of the former group having discussed their memory problems with a health care professional. A similar percentage of survey respondents who had been diagnosed with depression reported having talked to a health care professional about memory problems (33.2%).
Among the respondents who said memory complaints interfere with working, volunteering, or engaging in social activities sometimes, usually, or always, the rates were 33.8%, 38.9%, and 51.3%, respectively. Another study finding was that as age increased, the likelihood of discussing memory problems with a health care professional decreased.
The study findings suggest that “routine check-ups are a missed opportunity for assessing and discussing memory problems for the majority of adults aged 45 or older with [subjective memory problems],” Ms. Adams wrote. The results “highlight the need for the cognitive assessment required in the Affordable Care Act for Medicare recipients, and also suggest the need and potential benefit of cognitive assessment among adults younger than 65.”
Read the study in Preventing Chronic Disease (2016 Jan 28. doi: 10.5888/pcd13.150471).