Catching It Early: The Role of Screening in Dementia and Alzheimer's Care

Catching It Early: The Role of Screening in Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care

In this video, PA Klingler introduces the prevalence and burden of cognitive impairment, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease, with an emphasis on early identification and screening in primary care. Drawing from recent research—including a 2024 analysis of Medicare data showing over 90% of MCI cases go undiagnosed—PA Klingler highlights the critical opportunity for PAs to intervene earlier in the disease process.

Key Takeaways:

Mild cognitive impairment is vastly underdiagnosed.
Medicare requires screening of anyone over age 65, but it is appropriate to screen younger patients with any cognition concerns.
The AD8 and MiniCog are useful screening tools.

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Speaker

Click on the photo below to learn more about the speaker.

Amy M. Klingler, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA

References and Additional Resources:

Alzheimer’s Association. 2025 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures: American Perspectives on Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease in the Era of Treatment.; 2025. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.alz.org/getmedia/ef8f48f9-ad36-48ea-87f9-b74034635c1e/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf

American Academy of Physician Associates. Cognitive Assessment Toolkit. Aapa.org. 2025. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.aapa.org/cme-central/cognitive-assessment-toolkit/

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease: Older adults’ experiences with cognitive screening & blood biomarker testing. National Poll on Healthy Aging. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/reports-more/report/detecting-alzheimers-disease-older-adults-experiences-cognitive-screening-blood

KAER toolkit. Kaerbrain.org. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.kaerbrain.org/

Liu Y, Jun H, Becker A, Wallick C, Mattke S. Detection rates of mild cognitive impairment in primary care for the United States Medicare population. J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2024;11(1):7-12. doi:10.14283/jpad.2023.131

Song WX, Wu WW, Zhao YY, et al. Evidence from a meta-analysis and systematic review reveals the global prevalence of mild cognitive impairment. Front Aging Neurosci. 2023;15:1227112. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2023.1227112

Supported by

Amy M. Klingler, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA

Amy M. Klingler, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA, is a family medicine/urgent care PA at the Salmon River Clinic in Stanley, Idaho where she has worked for the past 19 years. She received her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from Pacific University in 2003. She received the Idaho Academy of Physician Assistants’ award for Physician Assistant of the Year in 2012 and was profiled by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants for contributions in rural medicine in May 2017. Amy believes that working in family medicine allows her to integrate the physical, mental, and social well-being of her patients which allows her to foster strong PA-patient relationships.