Short screening tests for cognitive status in the primary care practice
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2004 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Book of abstracts of the 14th conference Alzheimer Europe |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Psychology |
| Keywords | screening of dementia; 7 minute neurocognitive screening test |
| Description | Background People with cognitive impairment or dementia in general practice may be identify by brief cognitive tests. Aim To evaluate the usefulness of Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), a 7 minute neurocognitive screening test (7MST) and clock drawing test (CDT) in the primary care. Patients and methods Sixty elderly individuals underwent MMSE, 7MST and CDT testing in practice of general practitioners. We recorded scores of four 7MST subtests: orientation, memory, clock test, verbal fluency. We assessed CDT in frame of 7MST and according to Hendriksens scale. Results Five patients (8,4%) had high probability of dementia (HP) according to 7MST. Alzheimers disease (AD) were confirmed in two of them. 2 patients was not possible to assess, 1 had anxiety and depressive disorder. 54 persons had low probability (LP) of AD, 1 individual (1,6 %) had an ambiguous result. We revealed that ratio between free and cued recall (FCR) derived from 7MST may be sensitive for identifying people with cognitive deficits. MMSE ranged from 7 to 24 in HP patients, whereas LP persons had MMSE between 27 30. MMSE score is most strongly correlated with the subtest of orientation in 7MST. Three other 7MST subscores were poorly related to MMSE. MMSE took on average 5,5 minutes (4-10), whereas 7MST were longer (8 minutes, 6-12). Assessment of CDT according to 7MST rules had medium correlation with results according to Hendricksens scale (0,39). Conclusion 7MST, MMSE and CDT tests are comparable tools to screen cognitive impairment in the primary care practice. MMSE is faster and easier to perform. 7MST is more comfortable for patients. CDT was easily scored in frame of 7MST. FCR can detect memory disturbances in screening tests. |
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