Screening for Alzheimer's dementia at age 78 with short psychometric instruments.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: To date, no single instrument has proved to be adequate for screening for Alzheimer's dementia (AD). The aim of this study was to identify a combination of instruments which were highly sensitive for screening late onset AD. METHODS: Subjects were drawn from the Vienna TransDanube Aging (VITA) study. This is an interdisciplinary, longitudinal community-based cohort study of the 21st and 22nd district of Vienna (Austria). Data refer to the cohort of 478 individuals at age 78 who took part in the first follow-up investigation of the VITA study. The psychometric instruments which were investigated were: the Ten-Point Clock Test, the Human-Figure Drawing Test, a Delayed Selective Reminding Test, Naming, the Trail Making Test-B, and Verbal Fluency. Further instruments were the Pocket Smell Test, and Subjective Memory Complaints. Data were analyzed using logistic regression analyses and cross validation. RESULTS: A combination of the Delayed Selective Reminding Test and Verbal Fluency was best for screening AD (R2 = 0.38, main model). An area under the ROC curve of 0.829 was reached. This model discriminated between subjects with incident AD and subjects who did not have incident AD with a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 56%. CONCLUSION: The combination of an episodic memory test and a test of verbal fluency was an effective way of screening for AD.

Author information

Author/s: Jungwirth, S (S); Zehetmayer, S (S); Bauer, P (P); Weissgram, S (S); Tragl, K H (KH); Fischer, P (P);

Affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Aging Research, Vienna, Austria. Susanne.Jungwirth(-atsign-)wienkav.at

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: International psychogeriatrics / IPA (Int Psychogeriatr), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 21 (issue 3) : pp 548-59

Dates: Created 2009/05/11; Completed 2009/06/24;

PMID: 19327204, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/24/2009, IMS Date: 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00)

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