o b

Too Few Older Adults Tell Doctors About Memory Loss: Study

Aimee Sharp
Author | Shield HealthCare
01/29/16  11:54 AM PST
Memory Loss

By E. J. Mundell for HealthDay, Medline Plus

THURSDAY, Jan. 28, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Do you worry that forgetting names, or where you put your keys, might be a sign of impending dementia? If you’re like most older Americans, you don’t bring this up with your doctor, a new study shows.

Researchers who looked at federal government data on more than 10,000 people found that in 2011, only 1 in 4 adults aged 45 or older discussed memory problems with a health care professional during a routine checkup.

In fact, the likelihood that a person would admit to a memory problem in a doctor’s office visit actually declined with advancing age, says a team led by Mary Adams, of On Target Health Data in West Suffield, Conn.

The findings were published Jan. 28 in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

“Routine checkups are a missed opportunity for assessing and discussing memory problems for the majority of older adults,” Adams said in a journal news release.

Experts agreed that the stigma around memory loss and dementia may hold people back from discussing these issues with their physicians.

Read the Full Article at HealthDay, Medline Plus

Find more articles originally published by HealthDay, Medline Plus below:

Trending
Recent Health Care Professionals
Comments

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *