Overview
The common belief that dementia is a normal part of aging creates disadvantages for those affected by dementia. Closing this knowledge gap and reducing stigma will require a brief validated cognitive assessment tool for use in community-based Primary Health Care settings (PHCs). This project is in line with the WHO global action plan on public health response that at least 50% of countries can diagnose 50% of estimated people living with dementia by 2025. There is currently no cognitive assessment and screening tool for use at PHCs in Nigeria.
Project Details
The overarching goal is the deployment of the TabCAT Brain Health Assessment (BHA) tool in primary healthcare facilities for the underserved geriatric population. This can be achieved through these specific aims:
- Aim 1: Cultural adaptation / validation of TabCAT via community entry and focus Groups (FG). FG will be used to systematically examine and refine the TabCAT BHA for local language and familiarity with electronic devices. 20 healthy adult volunteers aged 50 years and above will be recruited following inclusion criteria. Sampling will be purposive to ensure representativeness with regard to community role, education, and sex. Most participants will be bilingual (English and Pijin), to assure the linguistic and content equivalency of two versions. Participants will be split into FG subsets (5 medical professionals and 15 non-medical). FG will be guided by structured discussions and Likert Scale assessment for any key issues. First will be a medical expert; obtain their feedback (content validity). FG pilot face validity testing with 10 adult volunteers who represent the primary care population will be carried out; participants will be observed taking the test and asked if anything was unclear or confusing (face validity). Content validity index for FG and Face validity index for pilot testing on clarity and comprehension will be documented.
- Aim 2: TabCAT BHA performance in geriatric clinic patients. A total of 100 randomly selected consenting patients will be recruited, during routine geriatric clinic visits, to complete the 10-minute TabCAT BHA. Results will be quantitatively analyzed using descriptive and multivariable statistics to examine score distributions and compare performance by patient characteristics (age, sex, education).
Project impact will improve practice of dementia diagnosis/referral, treatment, data, advocacy, training.
Members involved
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