Validation of the Greek version of the Abbreviated Mental Test Score: Preliminary findings for cognitively impaired patients of different etiology

Abstract

Background Screening people’s cognitive skills have been proven essential for reference to full assessment. These methods include short scales, such as the Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS). The AMTS is a valid 10-item questionnaire that has been translated into many languages, but not in Greek yet. The aim of this study is the validation of the Greek version of the AMTS with an additional estimation of its cutoff scores. Methods About 132 individuals [60 controls and 72 patients (24 with Parkinson’s disease (PD), 24 with Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD), and 24 with Alzheimer’s disease (AD)] participated in this study. All participants besides the AMTS completed the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Tuokko’s Clock Drawing Test (CDT), the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), the Arizona Battery for Communication Disorders of Dementia (ABCD), the Hellenic versions of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Results Statistically significant differences were found between all subgroups for the AMTS. The AMTS showed high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.819 and coefficient omega ω = 0.814). A threshold equal to 6.50 (AUC: 0.908, p = 0.000) between groups with and without cognitive impairment was calculated. The AMTS was significantly correlated with the CDT, IADL, and MMSE. Conclusion The proposed version of the AMTS can distinguish between groups with and without cognitive impairment. Additionally, the AMTS is found to be clinically valid having high reliability and classification accuracy. Conclusively, it is a valuable instrument for screening different types of cognitively impaired patients.