Abstract
In the differential diagnosis between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and normal aging, tests evaluating memory and executive functions are frequently used. The addition of abstraction tests may enhance the effectiveness of screening tests for AD.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to compare initial data of a new instrument – The Screening Test for Alzheimer’s Disease with Proverbs (STADP) – against other screening tests used in AD diagnosis.MethodsSixty elderly individuals (46 controls and 14 AD subjects with CDR=1), aged =60 years, with at least one year of schooling, were evaluated using the STADP at outpatient clinic. The STADP assesses short-term memory, episodic memory, executive functions and language, in addition to proverb recognition. The performance of the participants on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), semantic Verbal Fluency (VF) and Clock Drawing Test (CDT) were evaluated and the habit of reading, writing and sociodemographic data were also taken into account.ResultsThere were significant correlations between STADP and the performance on the MMSE (r=0.64), CDT (r=0.50) and VF (r=0.56). Age influenced all sub-items of the STADP, specifically episodic memory (r= –0.54), whereas schooling mainly influenced executive functions and language (r=0.46). The total score, stages A and C and the “proverb recognition” of STADP (p<0.001), as well as the MMSE (p<0.001), CDT (p=0.016), VF (p<0.001) were significantly different in AD versus control groups.ConclusionsThe findings point to the potential use of the STADP in AD, warranting the conducting of further studies.
Highlights
In the differential diagnosis between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and normal aging, tests evaluating memory and executive functions are frequently used
The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), semantic Verbal Fluency (VF) and Clock Drawing Test (CDT) as well as the Screening Test for Alzheimer’s Disease with Proverbs (STADP), short-term memory STADP, episodic memory STADP and the “proverb recognition” of STADP were significantly different between patients and controls
Schooling years and executive functions / language of STADP did not differ, there was a trend for significance in stage B of the STADP
Summary
Abstract – In the differential diagnosis between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and normal aging, tests evaluating memory and executive functions are frequently used. The search for clinical markers in the early stage of AD points to a significantly lower percentage of hits than that of the control group in episodic memory tests (more so in verbal memory) and short-term or working memory This explains the low performance seen in other cognitive tasks, in addition to significantly longer response latencies in all the tests, indicating a slowing of the information processing by the central nervous system in AD1 With regard to language, Mansur et al.[2] reported that this is difficult to analyze in AD because of the intricate way in which it manifests itself in the functions of memory and attention, and given that working memory – a system that temporarily stores and manipulates the information needed for complex cognitive functions3 – is involved in many language processes, such as sentence and text comprehension. In this article we present the preliminary profile data of patients with early AD and of control individuals on the Screening Test for Alzheimer’s Disease using Proverbs (STADP)
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