Recommendations

1. 
   Short questionnaires such as the MTS are useful for large scale screening for cognitive deficits in populations with a high prevalence of cognitive problems—such as medical inpatients. They should be regarded as a minimal requirement in the assessment of elderly medical inpatients for cognitive deficits. Short questionnaires are not suitable for supporting a diagnosis of mild dementia.
   
2. 
   Highly selective tests such as the GPCOG are useful tests for patients with established AD in general practice. They are less helpful in mild dementia.
   
3. 
   Multidomain tests such as the ACE-111 are useful to support the initial diagnosis of dementia in primary or secondary care. Completion of a multidomain test should be a minimum requirement in the diagnosis of dementia or prior to referral to a specialist for diagnosis. Multidomain tests are too sensitive to be useful in large scale screening of patients for cognitive deficits.