scholarly journals Comparing Approaches to Optimize Cut-off Scores for Short Cognitive Screening Instruments in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rónán O’Caoimh ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Anton Svendovski ◽  
Paul Gallagher ◽  
Joseph Eustace ◽  
...  
Diagnostics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rónán O’Caoimh ◽  
D. William Molloy

Short but accurate cognitive screening instruments are required in busy clinical practice. Although widely-used, the diagnostic accuracy of the standardised Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE) in different dementia subtypes remains poorly characterised. We compared the SMMSE to the Quick Mild Cognitive Impairment (Qmci) screen in patients (n = 3020) pooled from three memory clinic databases in Canada including those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s, vascular, mixed, frontotemporal, Lewy Body and Parkinson’s dementia, with and without co-morbid depression. Caregivers (n = 875) without cognitive symptoms were included as normal controls. The median age of patients was 77 (Interquartile = ±9) years. Both instruments accurately differentiated cognitive impairment (MCI or dementia) from controls. The SMMSE most accurately differentiated Alzheimer’s (AUC 0.94) and Lewy Body dementia (AUC 0.94) and least accurately identified MCI (AUC 0.73), vascular (AUC 0.74), and Parkinson’s dementia (AUC 0.81). The Qmci had statistically similar or greater accuracy in distinguishing all dementia subtypes but particularly MCI (AUC 0.85). Co-morbid depression affected accuracy in those with MCI. The SMMSE and Qmci have good-excellent accuracy in established dementia. The SMMSE is less suitable in MCI, vascular and Parkinson’s dementia, where alternatives including the Qmci screen may be used. The influence of co-morbid depression on scores merits further investigation.


Diagnostics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Besa Ziso ◽  
Andrew J. Larner

Many cognitive screening instruments are available to assess patients with cognitive symptoms in whom a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment is being considered. Most are quantitative scales with specified cut-off values. In contrast, the cognitive disorders examination or Codex is a two-step decision tree which incorporates components from the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (three word recall, spatial orientation) along with a simplified clock drawing test to produce categorical outcomes defining the probability of dementia diagnosis and, by implication, directing clinician response (reassurance, monitoring, further investigation, immediate treatment). Codex has been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity for dementia diagnosis but is less sensitive for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We examined minor modifications to the Codex decision tree to try to improve its sensitivity for the diagnosis of MCI, based on data extracted from studies of two other cognitive screening instruments, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Free-Cog, which are more stringent than MMSE in their tests of delayed recall. Neither modification proved of diagnostic value for mild cognitive impairment. Possible explanations for this failure are considered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Che-Sheng Chu ◽  
I-Chen Lee ◽  
Chuan-Cheng Hung ◽  
I-Ching Lee ◽  
Chi-Fa Hung ◽  
...  

Background: The aim of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of the Computerized Brief Cognitive Screening Test (CBCog) for early detection of cognitive impairment. Method: One hundred and sixty participants, including community-dwelling and out-patient volunteers (both men and women) aged ≥ 65 years, were enrolled in the study. All participants were screened using the CBCog and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The internal consistency of the CBCog was analyzed using Cronbach’s α test. Areas under the curves (AUCs) of receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to test the predictive accuracy of the CBCog in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in order to set an appropriate cutoff point. Results: The CBCog scores were positively correlated with the MMSE scores of patients with MCI-related dementia (r = 0.678, P < .001). The internal consistency of the CBCog (Cronbach’s α) was 0.706. It was found that the CBCog with a cutoff point of 19/20 had a sensitivity of 97.5% and a specificity of 53.7% for the diagnosis of MCI with education level ≥ 6 years. The AUC of the CBCog for discriminating the normal control elderly from patients with MCI (AUC = 0.827, P < 0.001) was larger than that of the MMSE for discriminating the normal control elderly from patients with MCI (AUC= 0.819, P < .001). Conclusion: The CBCog demonstrated to have sufficient validity and reliability to evaluate mild cognitive impairment, especially in highly educated elderly people.


2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 405-412
Author(s):  
Stelios Zygouris ◽  
Paraskevi Iliadou ◽  
Eftychia Lazarou ◽  
Dimitrios Giakoumis ◽  
Konstantinos Votis ◽  
...  

Background: Literature supports the use of serious games and virtual environments to assess cognitive functions and detect cognitive decline. This promising assessment method, however, has not yet been translated into self-administered screening instruments for pre-clinical dementia. Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the performance of a novel self-administered serious game-based test, namely the Virtual Supermarket Test (VST), in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a sample of older adults with subjective memory complaints (SMC), in comparison with two well-established screening instruments, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Methods: Two groups, one of healthy older adults with SMC (N = 48) and one of MCI patients (N = 47) were recruited from day centers for cognitive disorders and administered the VST, the MoCA, the MMSE, and an extended pencil and paper neuropsychological test battery. Results: The VST displayed a correct classification rate (CCR) of 81.91% when differentiating between MCI patients and older adults with SMC, while the MoCA displayed of CCR of 72.04% and the MMSE displayed a CCR of 64.89%. Conclusion: The three instruments assessed in this study displayed significantly different performances in differentiating between healthy older adults with SMC and MCI patients. The VST displayed a good CCR, while the MoCA displayed an average CCR and the MMSE displayed a poor CCR. The VST appears to be a robust tool for detecting MCI in a population of older adults with SMC.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Ehreke ◽  
Melanie Luppa ◽  
Hans-Helmut König ◽  
Steffi G. Riedel-Heller

ABSTRACTBackground:The clock drawing test (CDT) is a common and widely used cognitive screening instrument for the diagnosis of dementia. However, it has remained unclear whether it is a suitable method to identify mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The aim of this paper is to review systematically the studies concerning the utility of the CDT in diagnosing MCI.Method:A systematic literature search was conducted. All studies dealing with utility of CDT in diagnosing MCI regardless of the applied CDT scoring system and MCI concept were selected.Results:Nine relevant studies were identified. The majority of the studies compared average CDT scores of cognitively healthy and mildly impaired subjects, and four of them identified significant mean differences. If reported, sensitivity and specificity have been mostly unsatisfactory.Conclusion:CDT should not be used for MCI-screening.


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