Brain wave
New dementia tool may lead to better health outcomes .
By Elise Hartevelt
A world-first tool spearheaded by a neuropsychologist may speed up the diagnosing process and improve overall health outcomes for people with dementia .
Australian ’ s wait on average up to three years before being diagnosed with dementia due to lengthy administrative processes and data calculation .
NSW ’ s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing doctor Adam Bentvelzen has designed a digital tool where neuropsychologists can enter data and instantly receive normative results to interpret for diagnosis .
Bentvelzen said early diagnosis is crucial to maximising someone ’ s future health outcomes .
“ It just takes forever to get those scores and turn them into results ready for interpretation – it can be really frustrating ,” he told Aged Care Insite .
“ If we can speed up the process , the time saved can go towards improving the patient ’ s development and quality of life .” People who may experience signs of dementia usually see a neuropsychologist , who specialise in the brain and how it processes memory , thinking and behaviour .
Confusion , changes in personality , apathy or difficulties performing day-to-day tasks are all associated with early warning signs of dementia .
Bentvelzen said a correct diagnosis is essential to rule out other underlying medical illnesses and to find the best treatment .
Yet , neurological assessment requires various tests that each can take up to two hours to complete and can include specialised tests like CT scans and laboratory tests .
“ In most cases , neuropsychologists go over the data by hand because computer programs don ’ t calculate it for them ,” Bentvelzen said .
“ It ’ s really time-consuming if you ’ re doing assessments for data from multiple people in a day .”
Every year , roughly ten million people are diagnosed with dementia worldwide .
Dementia is a terminal illness that prompts the death of brain cells , first affecting someone ’ s mental capacities and eventually impacting the brain ’ s control over the rest of the body .
It ’ s estimated that someone lives up to ten years after
“ receiving their first diagnosis . Still , if the assessment process takes too long ,
There ’ s a people with dementia tend lot of to have poorer outcomes , research found . excitement . Bentvelzen said all the
little bonuses add to better help people living with dementia .
“ If the process takes less time , it can cut time on waiting lists and help neuropsychologists make a better-informed decision on the diagnosis ,” he said .
“ They can also spend more time providing feedback and working on a better care plan that suits their needs .”
The ADNeT Neuropsychological Norming Tool ( ANNT ) was designed in collaboration with experts from 17 institutions and launched last week .
Bentvelzen said they ’ ve already received ‘ amazing feedback ’ with over 130 people registering to use the tool in their practice .
“ I hope this tool will positively impact people by diagnosing them sooner and improve their quality of life ,” he said .
“ There ’ s a lot of excitement for a good reason – I think the great thing about it is we can only improve on this and do better .” ■
6 agedcareinsite . com . au