A new brief screening test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease has been developed. Good information on this research, and the test, is available on the Internet as of this week. The test has excellent sensitivity (ability to detect the disease when actually present) and selectivity (ability to exclude from detection those who do NOT have the disease.
LIMITATIONS
This is a screening test, not a diagnostic assessment tool. At this point in its development, it also lacks sufficient validity research to be used in a clinical setting. At best, it should be considered as possibly indicative of the status of any individual who takes it. That status, if of real interest, should be confirmed by other means.
KEY LINKS
Quick Alzheimer’s Test Highly Accurate – A brief but thorough summary report on the new research, written for health care professionals. Read this first.
Self administered cognitive screening test (TYM) for detection of Alzheimer’s disease: cross sectional study – The full test of the research report published in the British Medical Journal on 2009.06.09. This is technically demanding text, but rich in detail, with plenty of content useful to the non-technical reader as well.
Diagnosis of dementia – Editorial in the British Medical Journal, 2009.06.09, related to “Self-administered…” article in the same edition. Valuable additional information on the topic.
TYM (Test Your Memory) test – A PDF version of the test card used in the research. PLEASE NOTE that this test is designed for patients of British origin. I believe one can make some obvious cultural adjustments to the test text without compromising validity.
TYM Scoring instructions – From the authors of BMJ research report.
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