Pilot Study of Cognitive Assessment in Welsh Speakers

Pilot Study of Cognitive Assessment in Welsh Speakers

19% of Wales' population speaks Welsh. Under the Welsh Language Act 1993, every public body providing services to the public in Wales has to prepare a scheme setting out how it will provide those services in Welsh.

Diagnosing dementia requires a comprehensive assessment, an essential component of which is a cognitive assessment tool, which takes the form of a questionnaire. In clinical practice, this is currently only available through the medium of English.

The investigators objective is to measure the difference between Cognitive Assessment scores (using the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA)), when done in English and Welsh, in those who are cognitively impaired and whose first language is Welsh. The investigators predict that there will be a significant difference in scores in favour of the Welsh-medium tests, thus proving that the current mode of administering the test is prejudiced against patients whose first language is Welsh.

If the investigators predictions are correct, then the investigators would seek to introduce a validated Welsh-language cognitive assessment tool to the domain of the Welsh NHS.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Welsh Speakers - self-identify as first-language Welsh
• Diagnosis of Dementia - recorded in patient's case notes

Exclusion Criteria:

• Refusal
• Intercurrent illness
• Blind/any other disability which may prevent participant from fully completing Cognitive Assessment