Quick test helps spot dementia

While not quite as swift as its title suggests, the "seven minute screen" is an accurate means of testing for dementia, Dutch researchers report.

As lead author Dr. Etienne F. J. Meulen told Reuters Health it "is a cognitive screen with good predictive validity for all types of dementia. Using this test, it is possible to detect dementia at an early stage."

Meulen, at the General Hospital Slotevaart, and colleagues evaluated a Dutch translation of the screening test, which consists of four brief assessments of mental functioning. The researchers used it to screen 542 patients with various types of dementia or depression and 45 healthy controls.

The team reports in the May issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry that Alzheimer's disease was diagnosed in 177 patients and other types of dementia in 164. The test identified 92.9 percent of those with Alzheimer's.

Under the study conditions, the researchers found that the average time to administer the test was, in fact, 12.4 minutes. This ranged from 8 to 22 minutes, with longer times needed to assess subjects with more severe dementia.

In an editorial, Dr. Victor W. Henderson of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, points out that clinical assessment for dementia "is more commonly triggered by patient of caregiver complaints" than by screening.

Nevertheless, in some circumstances, he concluded, "12 minutes could be a rewarding investment, suggesting a useful niche for the optimistically named 7 minute screen."

SOURCE: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, May 2004.