Dementia: Cognitive Assessment

Percentage of patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of dementia for whom an assessment of cognition is performed and the results reviewed at least once within a 12 month period

Copyright 2017 PCPI(R) Foundation and American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

The Measures are not clinical guidelines, do not establish a standard of medical care, and have not been tested for all potential applications. 

The Measures, while copyrighted, can be reproduced and distributed, without modification, for noncommercial purposes, eg, use by health care providers in connection with their practices. Commercial use is defined as the sale, license, or distribution of the Measures for commercial gain, or incorporation of the Measures into a product or service that is sold, licensed or distributed for commercial gain. 

Commercial uses of the Measures require a license agreement between the user and the PCPI(R) Foundation (PCPI[R]) or the American Medical Association (AMA). Neither the American Medical Association (AMA), nor the AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement(R) (AMA-PCPI), nor PCPI, nor their members shall be responsible for any use of the Measures.

AMA and PCPI encourage use of the Measures by other health care professionals, where appropriate.

THE MEASURES AND SPECIFICATIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

Limited proprietary coding is contained in the Measure specifications for convenience. Users of the proprietary code sets should obtain all necessary licenses from the owners of these code sets. The AMA, the PCPI and its members and former members of the AMA-PCPI disclaim all liability for use or accuracy of any Current Procedural Terminology (CPT[R]) or other coding contained in the specifications. 

CPT(R) contained in the Measure specifications is copyright 2004-2016 American Medical Association. LOINC(R) is copyright 2004-2016 Regenstrief Institute, Inc. This material contains SNOMED CLINICAL TERMS (SNOMED CT[R]) copyright 2004-2016 International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO). ICD-10 is copyright 2016 World Health Organization. All Rights Reserved.

Due to technical limitations, registered trademarks are indicated by (R) or [R].

None

None

None

Dementia is often characterized by the gradual onset and continuing cognitive decline in one or more domains including memory, executive function, language, judgment, and spatial abilities. (APA, 2007)  Cognitive deterioration represents a major source of morbidity and mortality and poses a significant burden on affected individuals and their caregivers. (NIH, 2010) Although cognitive deterioration follows a different course depending on the type of dementia, significant rates of decline have been reported. For example, one study found that the annual rate of decline for Alzheimer's disease patients was more than four times that of older adults with no cognitive impairment. (Wilson et al., 2010) Nevertheless, measurable cognitive abilities remain throughout the course of dementia. (APA, 2007) Initial and ongoing assessments of cognition are fundamental to the proper management of patients with dementia. These assessments serve as the basis for identifying treatment goals, developing a treatment plan, monitoring the effects of treatment, and modifying treatment as appropriate.

Ongoing assessment includes periodic monitoring of the development and evolution of cognitive and noncognitive psychiatric symptoms and their response to intervention (Category I). Both cognitive and noncognitive neuropsychiatric and behavioral symptoms of dementia tend to evolve over time, so regular monitoring allows detection of new symptoms and adaptation of treatment strategies to current needs... Cognitive symptoms that almost always require assessment include impairments in memory, executive function, language, judgment, and spatial abilities. It is often helpful to track cognitive status with a structured simple examination. (APA, 2007)

Conduct and document an assessment and monitor changes in cognitive status using a reliable and valid instrument. Cognitive status should be reassessed periodically to identify sudden changes, as well as to monitor the potential beneficial or harmful effects of environmental changes, specific medications, or other interventions. Proper assessment requires the use of a standardized, objective instrument that is relatively easy to use, reliable (with less variability between different assessors), and valid (results that would be similar to gold-standard evaluations). (California Workgroup on Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease Management, 2008)

Higher score indicates better quality

American Psychiatric Association (APA). Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Arlington (VA): American Psychiatric Association (APA); 2007 Oct.

California Workgroup on Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease Management. Guidelines for Alzheimer's disease management. Los Angeles, CA: Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc., Los Angeles Chapter. 2008.

National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH State-of-the-Science Conference: Preventing Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Decline. April 26-28, 2010. http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/docs/alz/alz_stmt.pdf. Accessed June 9, 2010.

Wilson RS, Aggarwal NT, Barnes LL, Mendes de Leon CF, Hebert LE, Evans DA. Cognitive decline in incident Alzheimer disease in a community population. Neurology. 2010 Mar 23;74(12):951-5.

Cognition can be assessed by the clinician during the patient's clinical history. 
Cognition can also be assessed by direct examination of the patient using one of a number of instruments, including several originally developed and validated for screening purposes. This can also include, where appropriate, administration to a knowledgeable informant. Examples include, but are not limited to:
-Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test (BOMC)
-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
-St. Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS)
-Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) [Note: The MMSE has not been well validated for non-Alzheimer's dementias]
-Short Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE)
-Ascertain Dementia 8 (AD8) Questionnaire
-Minimum Data Set (MDS) Brief Interview of Mental Status (BIMS) [Note: Validated for use with nursing home patients only]
-Formal neuropsychological evaluation
-Mini-Cog

Use of a standardized tool or instrument to assess cognition other than those listed will meet numerator performance. Standardized tools can be mapped to the concept "Intervention, Performed: Cognitive Assessment" included in the numerator logic below.

The requirement of "Count >=2 Encounter, Performed" is to establish that the eligible professional or eligible clinician has an existing relationship with the patient.

The DSM-5 has replaced the term dementia with major neurocognitive disorder and mild neurocognitive disorder. For the purposes of this measure, the terms are equivalent.

TBD

All patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of dementia

Equals Initial Population

None

Patients for whom an assessment of cognition is performed and the results reviewed at least once within a 12 month period

Not Applicable

Documentation of patient reason(s) for not assessing cognition

For every patient evaluated by this measure also identify payer, race, ethnicity and sex

None