Keywords
screening
dementia
memory
cognitive impairment
primary health
neurocognitive test.
How to Cite
Abstract
The aim of this study is the validation and identification of cut-off scores for a fast neurocognitive test, called TYM (Test Your Memory) which goal is dementia screening. It was translated and adapted to meet a sample profiles that dwell in Rosario. Results between patients and normal controls matched for age and gender were compared. To establish cut-off points the TYM test was compared against other standardized well-known test (Test de Lobo or MEC, Addenbrook Cognitive Test in Spanish -Revised or ACE-R and -Pfeiffer Test or PFAQ) in two samples of subjects with 50 demented patients and 100 normal controls each one. Patients with dementia completed the TYM with a mean score of 37/50 and controls scored 47/50. Correlation with the other tests was good. A score of <40/50 had a sensibility of 84% (95% CI 82.2-88.7%) and specificity of 95% (95% CI 92.1-96.9%) in dementia. Cut-off scores were settled using ROC curves. TYM detected 97% of dementia patients while MEC and ACE-R detected 78%. Positive and negative predictive value of the TYM with a cut-off score of <40 was 45% y 95% respectively, with a dementia prevalence rate of 5%. This cut-off score was reduced to 39/50 for those subjects with low level education (< 6 years of education). The TYM reveals as a simple, low cost test. Patients and controls completed the test fast and easily and it stands as a valid tool for dementia screening. A prevention must be made, however, against using it with no control by sanitary agents or clinics, who must be in charge of scoring and interpretation of the test results.This journal is registered under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License. Thus, this work may be reproduced, distributed, and publicly shared in digital format, as long as the names of the authors and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana are acknowledged. Others are allowed to quote, adapt, transform, auto-archive, republish, and create based on this material, for any purpose (even commercial ones), provided the authorship is duly acknowledged, a link to the original work is provided, and it is specified if changes have been made. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana does not hold the rights of published works and the authors are solely responsible for the contents of their works; they keep the moral, intellectual, privacy, and publicity rights. Approving the intervention of the work (review, copy-editing, translation, layout) and the following outreach, are granted through an use license and not through an assignment of rights. This means the journal and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana cannot be held responsible for any ethical malpractice by the authors. As a consequence of the protection granted by the use license, the journal is not required to publish recantations or modify information already published, unless the errata stems from the editorial management process. Publishing contents in this journal does not generate royalties for contributors.