Chances of seniors passing dementia test decrease 10pc after every year

Wallis Wang

The prospect of an elderly citizen passing a cognitive test decreases by 10 percent each year, according to a study from the Chinese University medical school.

Its findings came after more than 6,300 Hong Kong residents had, since December, taken a 15-minute preliminary assessment for dementia using the "EC Screen" mobile app developed by CUHK Faculty of Medicine.

The study found that three out of 10 participants require further cognitive follow-ups and that the odds of passing the test are reduced by 10 percent per one-year age increase for seniors above 60.

Professor Timothy Kwok Chi-yui from CUHK's Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, also the director of the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing, said Hong Kong is a super-aged society, with the number of elderly accounting for some 20 percent of the 7.3 million population.

He said more and more Hongkongers are now suffering from the loss of cognitive functionality, adding the average age of test participants who need attention was 78 years old.

Kwok estimates that more than 100,000 elderly in Hong Kong are afflicted with dementia but most have never been diagnosed. Patients are facing a prolonged waiting time to see a geriatrician, psychiatrist or neurologist at public hospitals, while private hospitals and clinics cost much more and so patients usually do not seek medical help until their condition worsens, he said.

Kwok hopes to raise people's awareness of dementia so that patients can receive timely help and have the impairment controlled with medications. He added: "Early detection, early diagnosis and early intervention are crucial [along with] timely actions to prevent dementia or delay the decline."

He added that low education is a key risk factor in cognitive impairment as 46.4 percent of elderly with primary education or below need to receive attention, compared to 24.4 percent of those with secondary education and only 13.8 percent of those with tertiary education or above.

JCCPA and the CUHK medical school are jointly launching a dementia-screening and community-support project. It could identify at least 1,600 dementia patients in the coming three years and help their family members take care of them, Kwok said.

It will also train more than 100 private doctors and social service organization staff to provide dementia diagnoses and follow-ups for 2,400 patients at the primary health-care level. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has donated over HK$170 million in support of the project.

At the project's launch ceremony, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the elderly population in Hong Kong will surge to 2.3 million in 10 years.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com