Abstract
Background/aimsTo validate the use of the Test Your Memory (TYM) test in dementias other than Alzheimer’s disease, and to compare the TYM test to two other short cognitive tests.MethodsOne hundred and fifty-seven patients with dementia other than typical Alzheimer’s disease were recruited from a specialist memory clinic. Patients completed the TYM test, the revised Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE-R) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), plus neurological examination, clinical diagnostics and multi-disciplinary team review. Their TYM scores were compared to age-matched controls and an Alzheimer’s disease cohort.ResultsPatients scored an average of 34.4/50 on the TYM test compared to 46.0/50 in age-matched controls. Using the threshold of 42/50, the TYM test detected 80% of non-Alzheimer dementias. The area under the ROC curve was 0.89 with a PPV of 0.80 and a NPV of 0.84. The TYM test performed better than the ACE-R (using the threshold of 83) which detected 69% of cases and the MMSE (using a threshold of 24) which detected only 27%.ConclusionsThe TYM test is a useful test in the detection of non-Alzheimer dementia. The TYM test performs much better than the MMSE at detecting non-Alzheimer dementias.
Highlights
Dementia is a major health problem with the prevalence increasing as the population ages [1]
The purpose of this study was to establish whether the Test Your Memory (TYM) test can detect and support a clinical diagnosis of a non-Alzheimer dementia
The TYM test should not be used in isolation to diagnose dementia [17]
Summary
Dementia is a major health problem with the prevalence increasing as the population ages [1]. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the commonest form of dementia but many patients have non-Alzheimer dementias. The nonAlzheimer’s diseases represent up to 50% of dementia cases [1], and are substantial causes of morbidity and mortality globally. Examples include dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), behavioural and language variants of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), vascular dementia (VaD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS). AD pathology can present atypically as posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) or logopaenic aphasia. The diagnosis of non-Alzheimer dementia is challenging. Patients with early dementia will normally present to non-specialists who have limited knowledge of less common dementias and the myriad ways in which they present
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