Analysis of Clinical- and Cost-effectiveness of Focused Cognitive Testing in Elective Inpatients

Neurocognitive Disorder (NCD) affects over 116'000 people in Switzerland and is frequently unrecognized and underdiagnosed. Because missed and delayed diagnosis are associated with an increased burden of disease health Service Research has prompted a discussion about diagnostic guidelines and screening programs. Some argue that screening for NCD in primary care is the optimal strategy to increase recognition rates; others consider test protocols implemented into hospital admission assessments as more justified. There is no distinct recommendation due to a lack of empirical data on the benefits and harms of cognitive testing yet. This trial strives to fill this gap and provide information about the benefits, harms and the economic case of routine cognitive testing for neurocognitive disorder in high risk elective inpatients, in Switzerland.

The investigators hypothesize that, cognitive tested patients, compared with patients not cognitive tested, will have higher health-related quality of life at 12months; and lower medical health care costs at 18months.