The Assessment of Medical Comorbidity in the Elderly Patients with Dementia

Medical comorbidity is common in elderly patients with dementia and may be associated with substantial impairment, worse health decline and mortality. Medical comorbidity has also measurable effects on the functional outcomes of dementia patients. Treatment selection bias occurs when a patient’s treatment is determined or influenced by factors other than the disease itself. This is why psychiatrists should increase their efforts to detect and treat this comorbidity. In this article we aim to clarify several aspects regarding the meaning of the term comorbidity by reviewing its definitions and its effects, and also by presenting several comorbidity instruments. We focus on the role of Cumulative Illness Rating Scale For Geriatrics in the assessment of comorbidity in elderly people with dementia. We conclude that more knowledge about comorbidity and adequate instruments to measure it would lead to improved research of dementia in clinical care.