SAGE for the Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment at Primary Care Provider Visits

Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) for the Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment at Primary Care Provider Visits

Thus far no large randomized trial has demonstrated a correlation between screening and improved outcomes. This would need to be done to gain widespread acceptance of screening and case finding programs. Early detection of cognitive impairment could potentially result in the appropriate treatment of reversible cognitive impairment conditions or earlier initiation of pharmacological interventions for the management of a variety of other dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) conditions. A screening approach that reduces the number of false positive screens would improve the comfort level of physicians and patients with cognitive screening programs.

The investigators propose to use the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) and the Electronic Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (eSAGE) to identify patients who score in the cognitive impairment range during an office visit with their primary care provider. Conversation with an individual who knows the patient well (if possible) will be performed to ascertain a significant change in the patient's cognitive skills over the previous year. The investigators wish to determine if screening for cognitive impairment in this way leads to new diagnoses and management outcomes compared to a group of primary care providers who use their current usual method in screening for cognitive impairment during office visits.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognitive Impairment
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) or Electronic Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (eSAGE); Other: Informant Conversation

Detailed Description

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has over 100 primary care providers who see patients at 14 offices in central Ohio. These providers routinely see geriatric patients and routinely conduct Annual Wellness Visits.

At least two primary care offices will be involved in this trial. At least one location will serve as the control office and will continue to conduct their visits including screening for cognitive impairment as they normally do using their usual method based on the primary care provider's normal practice. At least one different location will serve as the intervention office where all the providers, as their standard of care, use a standardized method for screening for cognitive impairment consisting of using the SAGE or eSAGE test and having a conversation with an individual who knows the patient well (if possible) to ascertain if a significant change (based on primary care provider opinion) occurred in the patient's cognitive skills over the previous year.

Chart reviews will be conducted on all of the patients who meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria for the trial using a 60 day window from the initial visit. The demographics, medical history and list of current medications will be reviewed. SAGE or eSAGE test results and the primary care provider's opinion of the informant information regarding the patient's cognitive change over the previous year will be obtained. Additionally, the charts will be reviewed for the number of referrals for further evaluation/management of potential cognitive impairment (including lab work, neuroimaging, neuropsychology testing, neurology/psychiatry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, counseling, respite care, legal assistance (DPOA or living will), day care, home health, social work, financial planning, and cognitive research), the initiation of pharmacological interventions for the management of cognitive impairment and the diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Charts will also be screened to assess the number of follow up visits that were scheduled after the office visit for follow up regarding cognitive issues. For the intervention office, chart reviews will be conducted on patients who complete the SAGE or eSAGE and on patients who do not complete the SAGE or eSAGE. Possible reasons for why patients would not complete the SAGE or eSAGE include: time constraints, patient noncompliance and provider oversight.

There will be 2 control groups. Control group 1 consists of primary care offices that did not use SAGE or eSAGE for any of their patients and Control group 2 consists of patients handled by the intervention office who did not complete the SAGE or eSAGE. Intervention group consists of patients handled by the intervention office who did complete the SAGE or eSAGE.

SAGE and eSAGE test scoring will be compared between the intervention office and the research site.

Upon completion of the trial, the providers from the intervention group will be requested to complete a questionnaire to evaluate the practicality and ease of use of the SAGE and eSAGE test.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 300

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43221
      • The Ohio State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 89 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults 65-89 without a known diagnosis of cognitive impairment or dementia who complete a non-acute care office visit will be included in the trial.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults 65-89 years of age who complete a non-acute care office visit.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia in the medical records.
• Diagnosis of visual loss or conditions causing visual loss in the medical records unless it is clear that the loss would not be sufficient to preclude reading standard medical forms with or without the use of visual aids.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Retrospective

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Control Group 1; At least one location will serve as the control office and will continue to conduct their visits including screening for cognitive impairment as they normally do using their usual method based on the primary care provider's normal practice.
Intervention Group; At least one different location will serve as the intervention office where all the providers, as their standard of care, use a standardized method for screening for cognitive impairment consisting of using the SAGE or eSAGE test and having a conversation with an individual who knows the patient well (if possible) to ascertain if a significant change (based on primary care provider opinion) occurred in the patient's cognitive skills over the previous year.	Other: Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) or Electronic Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (eSAGE); The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) is a reliable and valid assessment that is used to detect MCI and early dementia. It is a pen and paper assessment that has 4 interchangeable versions. The digital version of SAGE (eSAGE; commercially known as BrainTest®) is made for tablet use, consists of the identical test questions as SAGE, and is strongly associated with the validated SAGE.; Other: Informant Conversation; If possible, the provider will have a conversation with an individual who knows the patient will to ascertain if a significant change (based on primary care provider opinion) occurred in the patient's cognitive skills over the previous year.
Control Group 2; Control group 2 consists of patients handled by the intervention office who did not complete the SAGE or eSAGE.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With a Diagnosis of a Cognitive Impairment Disorder Measured by Pharmacological Interventions for the Management of Cognitive Impairment.	Number of participants in the intervention and the two control groups with diagnosis of a cognitive impairment disorder as measured by pharmacological interventions for the management of cognitive impairment.	60 days
Number of Participants in the Intervention and Control Groups With Any Referral for Further Evaluation/Management of Potential Cognitive Impairment	Number of participants in the intervention and the two control groups with any referral for further evaluation/management of potential cognitive impairment.	60 days
Number of Participants in the Intervention and the Control Groups With at Least One Follow-up Visit for Additional Investigation of a Cognitive Impairment Disorder.	Number of participants in the intervention and the two control groups with at least one follow-up visit for additional investigation of a cognitive impairment disorder.	60 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Referrals Used for Subjects in the Intervention and Control Groups for Further Evaluation/Management of Potential Cognitive Impairment.	Number of referrals used for subjects in the intervention and two control groups for further evaluation/management of potential cognitive impairment.	60 days
Number of Participants With Pharmacological Interventions for the Management of the Cognitive Impairment in the Subgroups of the Intervention Arm With and Without Additional Inputs From Informants	Number of participants with pharmacological interventions for the management of the cognitive impairment in the two subgroups of the intervention arm with and without additional inputs from informants	60 days
Scoring	Differences of SAGE and eSAGE scoring between intervention office and research site.	60 days
Questionnaires	Results of the questionnaire to evaluate the practicality and ease of use of the SAGE and eSAGE test by primary care providers and staff.	60 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ohio State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Douglas Scharre, MD, Ohio State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 14, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 6, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): July 7, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 19, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 19, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): August 21, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 28, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2023
• Last Verified: June 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: NEW-33307

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No