GP did a dementia test of 9 questions, does this sound correct?

[Janus]

My Dad, 81, is becoming forgetful and a bit muddled. I live a couple hundred miles away so see them about every 2-3 months, mum lives with him and brother is local. All of us have noticed changes, me probably more so as I don’t see him weekly. Small examples (I’ve just been down this weekend)

• Tells a story and then may repeat it a few hours later
• Asks me about my children but says something like ‘how’s your eldest’ as he can’t remember her name
• Tells me he sometimes can’t remember where he’s parked the car when he goes out
• Tells me a story about his past but I know chunks of it aren’t correct, ie the dates are decades apart from what he’s telling me

Anyway, a few weeks ago I told him maybe there’s a tablet to delay things if it was early dementia so he went to the GP. He says she took a blood test last week and today asked him to remember a shopping list of a few items and then asked him some questions such as ‘what year is it’ and ‘what’s in the news’. He couldn’t remember what’s in the news but talked about athletics being on as he watches a lot of sport on TV! He could remember the shopping list. GP said he was fine.

I guess we were all expecting some early dementia diagnosis but he’s got the all clear, does that sound correct? Could it be just old age and getting forgetful?

whats his b12 level?

Yes, that sounds like what a gp would do at initial assessment, especially if your dad went in saying that you were all worried but he wasn't. You could get him to request a referral to memory clinic.

@POTC thank you, he’s quite a stubborn one so now the GP has ‘signed him off’ I very much doubt he will go!! But I’ll keep it in mind for the future. Ironically he missed the first GP appointment about this as he forgot!!
@BloodyCamping i must admit I have no idea, is that what the blood test would have been for? I’ll ask him if they mentioned it but I guarantee he won’t remember!
thank you

Blood test was hopefully for several things including B12, Thyroid and Alzheimers

Fascinated to know what the blood test is for Alzheimer's.......not something I've come across in my 20 years as a GP......

Honestly the exemples you gave don't sound all that worrisome. Who never forgot where they parked their car ? And I remember dates based significant events in my life so I can imagine making mistakes. Forgetting your children's names can be a bit more concerning but how much would depend on how involved a GP he is. My own parents don't remember my children's birthdays or their ages...

@Penfelyn these were just a couple of examples and all of us close to him have noticed. He forgets where his car is a couple of times a week, I went out with him in the car and he literally had no idea where it was when we left the shops. The dates he was talking about was about 20+ years discrepancy! He was talking about something that happened when he was in his late 50s and he thought this happened when he was mid thirties. It’s very hard to pin point at this moment, it’s just a ‘feeling’ we all have as we are extremely close as a family. But then again, it just could be old age too, I guess I thought the GP would be more thorough but I don’t know how!
I think all I can do is leave it for now I think??

So he went to GP on his own?
People with fading cognition are very resourceful at covering up.
It would have been better if he went with a concerned relative who could prompt him to talk about what made them concerned.

Keep in mind that memory problems is not = dementia. There's a whole spectrum of mental decline that isn't quite dementia.

The basic dementia screening tests can be as few as 5 questions, btw.

The GP will have given him a score from the test. At some point in the future it should be repeated, and the GP will compare the two to see if there is any deterioration.

Go with him to GP for the next one?

The GP test is very basic and an intelligent person can hide their symptoms and pass. Your DF needs a referral to the hospital where they can do a more in depth test

No blood test for Alzheimers.

They give a blood test to check whether there is something physical going on like vitamin deficiencies or hormonal stuff like thyroid which can effect your functioning.

If there were severe issues with memory and nothing physical is found, then they can start considering whether it might be something neurological

I think this sounds fairly normal for his age. I won't say its nothing to worry about but I don't think its sounds like Alzheimers but of course it can be really hard to tell in the early stages. It sounds like the GP's assessment was quite a reasonable first pass. Honestly all you can do is keep an eye as far as he will let you. If it any comfort my mum called me by the wrong name all her life. She used to call us siblings each others names!
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There's such a thing as a memory clinic in our area, maybe he can ask to be referred to that?
My mum has self referred a few times as she's worried, but they ask 100 or so questions, not 10. So far so good, although she s clearly slower at processing and things like names of people and places than she used to be.

One of my care clients had it but it may have been as part of a trial? I wasn't given the details. There's info about it here www.alzheimers.org.uk/news/2019-08-01/blood-test-94-accurate-identifying-early-alzheimers-disease

I reckon that perhaps the GP asked some questions and made a referral to a memory clinic but confabulation is being used to cover it up.

Is he hydrated? I have a relative who has been screened for dementia/alzheimers, both ruled out but has turns like this when dehydrated.

The things you are reporting sound like what happened with my mother, it seemed fairly 'harmless' at the beginning, a bit of forgetfulness and being in a muddle which could be dismissed as 'old age'. But for her it was the start of dementia.

I wouldn't rely on what your dad said happened at the appointment, if he has memory problems there is no way he would remember and report back correctly.

The GP may well have referred him to the memory clinic. Your mum will need to look out for a letter because your dad may ignore or bin it, and you will be none the wiser about any referrals, and he will continue saying he's fine.

The only way to find out what is going on is to go to appointments with him, could your mum do this? Obviously he'd have to agree.

Oh thank you so much for all the replies.
Dad is very stubborn and insisted on going on his own, I did want my mum to go with him but he brushes it off. I had already returned home (nearly 200 miles away) so couldn’t go with him. He probably wouldn’t have let me though! There’s a chance he may have just said they thought it was OK but he’s an honest person so I don’t think he would (but couldn’t swear to it!).
It’s a good point that this will now be in his records so can be followed up in time.
He does loo after himself quite well so I would say he’s hydrated but I’m only there once every 2-3 months so I will suggest to my mum she checks he drinks enough.
Thanks again for so many helpful replies.

By the time my mum went to the GP for (what we thought were) mild possible signs of early dementia she couldn’t answer any of the GP questions. Not one.
It was a massive shock. It’s possible to cover things up a lot when you never get asked or avoid direct questions - I mean how often do you get asked what year it is? It’s just assumed knowledge.
It might be the start of dementia but also might not be. It’s good he’s seen the GP though.

There’s a chance he may have just said they thought it was OK but he’s an honest person so I don’t think he would

This isn't about honesty though. It isn't lying, it's an inability to process and report back correctly. You have already seen with the old stories he tells, he recounts them believing them to be accurate - but you know he has got them wrong. He isn't doing it to mislead you.

I wouldn't count on your dad telling you the truth sorry you need to go with him.

It took years for FIL to be diagnosed with dementia although I thought it was clear early on.

I've recently been through this with my mum.

GP asks what has prompted their concerns and then asks some set questions such as:

Do you know what day/month/year/season it is?
About a current news event or who the current prime minister is.
Given 3 words and told to remember them as you'll be asked later.
Given a 5 letter word and asked to spell it backwards.
A drawing task, such as copying two overlapping shapes.
Then asked if they can remember the 3 words given earlier.
Asked to write a sentence or two, about anything.

My mum was referred to the Memory Clinic, where they did the above again and then a lot of additional questions and tasks. You can look online for examples of the worksheets. (But don't tell your dad, he might mug up on them!)

It does sound like your dad might just have age-related memory loss, rather than dementia. The Memory Clinic can refer for a brain scan, if they think it would aid diagnosis. He'd need a specific diagnosis to be prescribed medication - not sure if they would do that without a scan.

@passport123 no blood test for Alzheimer's but possibly bloods for things that could be affecting cognition. In our area we'd do a range of things including B12, folate, thyroid function.

Where I am, GPs usually screen for dementia (with history and questionnaire) and refer to memory clinic if it seems likely, rather than the GP making the diagnosis.