08 Jun JAMA Study Compares Diagnostic Tests For Dementia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Kelvin TSOI BSc, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Stanley Ho Big Data Decision Analytics Research Centre
Associate Professor (by Courtesy), School of Public Health and Primary Care Faculty of Medicine
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Tsoi: Dementia is a global public health problem afflicting millions of old age population. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely applied test for dementia screening. In fact, there are over 40 tests available for dementia screening and many of them are available for free, but the diagnostic performances of these tests were not yet systematically evaluated. To identify the best alternative in the long list of screening tests, we conducted a systematic review to quantitatively analyze the diagnostic accuracy of these screening tests.
Among 149 eligible studies included over 49,000 participants, we found that the MMSE is a frequently used test for dementia screening. The sensitivity and specificity of MMSE for detection of dementia were combined to be 81.3% and 89.1% respectively. Compared with the other screening tests, the Mini-Cog and the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination Revised (ACE-R) showed the best diagnostic performance which was comparable to that of the MMSE. For mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) showed comparable performance to the MMSE with 88.9% sensitivity & 74.8% specificity.
MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Tsoi: The Mini-Cog and the ACE-R showed better performance than that of the other screening tests for dementia screening. The MoCA showed better performance than the others for MCI screening. Although the MMSE is the only proprietary instrument for dementia screening, the other screening tests were shown to be comparably effective but are easier to perform and freely available.
MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Tsoi: This study evaluated the existing literature with large sample size, but the screening tests were compared across different populations with various inclusion criteria. The future studies can further verify the test results on the same group of screening subjects.
Citation:
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, Kelvin TSOI BSc, PhD Research Associate Professor, Stanley Ho Big Data Decision Analytics Research Centre, Associate Professor (by Courtesy), School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, & The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2015). JAMA Study Compares Dementia Diagnostic Tests MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on June 10, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD