The number of older migrants with cognitive impairment and dementia living in Italy and attending national healthcare services is rapidly increasing. There is a need to develop diversity-sensitive policies and practices to include migrants and people with different cultural values in the public health response to dementia.
Based on the gaps and barriers identified by the ImmiDem study (GR-2016-02364975), the present project aims to: i) Describe the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of migrants with cognitive disorders living in Italy, their health outcomes, and their access to healthcare resources; ii) develop and disseminate screening and assessment tools allowing the cross-cultural cognitive examination of individuals with a migration background; iii) raise awareness about dementia among culturally diverse people and train healthcare professionals in how to provide culturally competent care and support for migrants with cognitive disorders.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
3,000
Participants will be assessed with neuropsychological tests and will be collected information about their lifestyle, clinical history and sociodemographic status. Special attention will be paid to the presence of modifiable risk factors for dementia (i.e., low education, hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, smoking, hypertension, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, and social isolation).
Global cognitive functioning
Global cognitive functioning will be assessed through the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS). This is a short cognitive screening instrument designed to minimise the effects of cultural learning and language diversity on the assessment of baseline cognitive performance. The score ranges from 0 to 30. Higher scores indicate better cognitive functioning.
Time frame: Baseline
Frailty
Frailty will be assessed by computing a Frailty Index (FI) focusing on the clinical history of the patient and collecting diverse deficits. Patients with a higher number of deficits will be considered frailer.
Time frame: Baseline
Risk factors
Special attention will be paid to the presence of modifiable risk factors for dementia (i.e., low education, hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, smoking, hypertension, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, and social isolation). They will be collected and analyzed through a specific questionnaire.
Time frame: Baseline
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