Older adults need better questions about their memory

Healthcare providers and researchers rely on screening questions to detect patients who may be at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and other aging-related problems, but how these questions are worded may be confusing or trigger emotional responses. According to Penn State researchers, this may result in patients who answer the same questions differently, and for different reasons.

In a study with older Pennsylvania adults, researchers asked participants a variety of common screening questions and then followed up to learn more about how each participant felt about those questions.

For example, when asked “Have you had problems with your memory recently?” one patient may interpret “recently” as within the same week while another may interpret it as within the month. Or, a third may be frightened by trouble with their memory and brush off the question altogether.

Nikki Hill, assistant professor of nursing at Penn State, said the results will help clinicians and researchers ask better questions and better interpret patient responses.

“If someone has concerns about their memory, that could be important for a lot of different reasons,” Hill said. “It could mean they have a problem that may continue to get worse, or maybe it’s impacting them emotionally, or maybe they just need more information. So we’re trying to learn the best questions to ask to really get at what our patients are experiencing and how best to respond.”

Source: Learning to ask older adults better questions about their memory