Most Older Adults See Value In Cognitive Screening For Alzheimer’s, But Have Not Been Tested

A total of 80% of adults aged 65 to 80 years old agreed that cognitive screening for Alzheimer’s disease can be useful to inform medical care and advance care planning. A full 60% of this population agreed screening should be offered annually to all adults aged 65 and older. However, 59% say they have never been screened.

Overall, 86% of older adults thought their health care provider would recommend cognitive screening if needed. Among those screened within the past year, 84% said the screening took place at a visit with a health care professional. A full 21% reported having been screened more than a year ago, and 20% had been screened within the past year.

Almost all older adults (96%) said that if they received cognitive screening results that suggested concerns about their memory or thinking skills, they would be likely (very or somewhat) to take steps to improve brain health, including such activities as getting more exercise and staying mentally and socially engaged. Also, in response to a positive screening result for Alzheimer’s:

• Three in four (75%) said they would likely consider changes to their financial or advance care planning.
• About two in three (65%) said a positive screening result would make them likely to believe they were probably going to develop Alzheimer’s disease or another serious brain disorder (10% very likely, 54% somewhat likely).
• Three in five (60%) said that a positive screening result would make them likely to experience significant distress.
• Three in five (58%) also said they likely would be concerned that others would view them differently as a result of positive results.

The poll findings were reported in “Detecting Alzheimer’s Disease: Older Adults’ Experiences with Cognitive Screening & Blood Biomarker Testing” by Scott Roberts, Ph.D., M.A.; and Jeffrey (Jeff) Kullgren, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., of the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. In March 2023, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging asked a national sample of adults aged 65 to 80 years about their use and awareness of cognitive screening and blood biomarker testing, as well as their perceptions of the tests’ benefits, limitations, and risks.

The full text of “Detecting Alzheimer’s Disease: Older Adults’ Experiences with Cognitive Screening & Blood Biomarker Testing” was published July 19, 2023, by the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. A copy is available online at https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/reports-more/report/detecting-alzheimers-disease-older-adults-experiences-cognitive-screening-blood.

For more information, contact: Kara Gavin, Lead Public Relations Representative, Communications, University of Michigan, 2901 Hubbard Street, Suite 2400 SPC 2435, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2435; Fax: 734-764-2220; Email: kegavin@med.umich.edu; Website: http://communication.med.umich.edu/