Cognitive screening of elderly population: results from four primary healthcare centres in İstanbul, Türkiye

Objective: Our study aimed to perform cognitive screening in primary healthcare centers and examine the prevalence andassociated factors of possible cognitive impairment for İstanbul, Türkiye.Methods: A total of 200 people (male =105, female =95) aged 65 years and older from four primary healthcare centres inIstanbul were randomly selected and enrolled in the study. The study population was screened using a socio-demographicsurvey, a validated Turkish version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE-R) and Geriatric Depressionscale. Multilinear regression analysis was used to identify associated factors that contribute lower scores of ACE-R test.Differences were considered statistically significant at p<0.05.Results: Possible cognitive impairment prevalence was found 12.5% (n=25) in the study population, with females havingthe higher proportion (n=20, 21.1% versus n=5, 4.8%, p<0.001). Based on multilinear regression model, high ACE-Rtest scores correlated positively with more education in years (β=.462, p<0.001), negatively with living alone (β=-.286,p=0.005), and low-income status (β=-.217, p=0.008) for male population. On the other hand, having more education inyears (β=.645, p<0.001) was the only positively correlated factor for high ACE-R test scores in the model for the femalepopulation.Conclusion: The study represents the most updated epidemiological information about cognitive screening at primaryheathcare level in İstanbul, Türkiye. More research is needed about cognitive decline at primary healthcare level to raiseawareness among the community.