Association of Being Accompanied at Medical Consultation and Having Memory Complaints With Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Brazilian Outpatients.

Background: The usefulness of both the presence of a companion at the medical consultation and patient's cognitive complaints as selection strategies for performing a dementia evaluation is still unclear.

Objectives: To estimate the association of elderly patients being accompanied during medical visits and patient's memory complaint with objective cognitive impairment.

Methods: We included elderly outpatients awaiting medical consultations in 3 non-neurological medical specialties.