Abstract
ABSTRACT.Diagnosis of cognitive impairment is usually difficult in low-educated individuals. The Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) was designed as a screening tool for the evaluation of cognitive impairment in low-educated individuals, but it may also be used for evaluating individuals with high educational level.Objectives: To perform a narrative review analyzing the origin of the BCSB, to report all studies that have used the Figure Memory Test (FMT) of the BCSB, and to demonstrate that it is a useful battery for regions where populations have heterogeneous educational background.Methods: We performed a search in PubMed, SciELO, and LILACS using the terms “Brief Cognitive Screening Battery” and “Brief Cognitive Battery”.Results: We obtained 49 papers from PubMed, 32 from SciELO, and 28 from LILACS. After the exclusion of duplicate papers, 54 publications were obtained; five more studies were included from previous knowledge of the authors. Twenty-four papers were related to the impact of education on performance, diagnostic accuracy, cutoff scores and normative studies. The delayed recall of the FMT showed the best accuracy for the diagnosis of dementia with a cutoff score of ≤5 in different education levels. In 35 papers, the FMT of the BCSB was used in clinical studies with different settings, from outpatient memory clinics to epidemiological studies and evaluation of Amazon river basin dwelling individuals, and it was always considered to be easy to apply.Conclusions: The FMT of the BCSB is an easy and short tool for the diagnosis of dementia in populations with heterogeneous educational background.
Highlights
In 1990, we started a project whose objective was to investigate whether dementia caused by neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer disease, was more frequent among people with higher socioeconomic level, while vascular dementia and dementia of other non-degenerative etiologies were more frequent in individuals of lower socioeconomic status
A few months before the study started, Morris et al.[5] published the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) battery for the clinical and neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD). It would be an interesting set of tests to be used, the memory test would still require reading, preventing its use among illiterates. Faced with this difficulty and not knowing any method that could be used for adequate cognitive assessment of illiterates and individuals with low schooling, especially memory, we developed the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB), which includes the Figure Memory Test (FMT).[6]
Influence of Education, Construct validity, and normative studies In the epidemiological studies of dementia conducted in Catanduva, Brazil, the BCSB was applied in the prevalence study[9] and in the incidence study conducted 3.5 years later.[10]
Summary
In 1990, we started a project whose objective was to investigate whether dementia caused by neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer disease, was more frequent among people with higher socioeconomic level, while vascular dementia and dementia of other non-degenerative etiologies were more frequent in individuals of lower socioeconomic status. Cases seen at a private clinic were included in order to improve the sample regarding higher socioeconomic levels. In the designing phase of the project, it was clear that it would be difficult to establish the diagnosis of dementia in individuals with low education, especially illiterates. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) had proved to be very inadequate in previous studies carried out in low- and middle-income countries, such as in China, many years before, when Katzman tried to use the MMSE for the diagnosis of dementia.[1]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
