Psychometric identification of early Alzheimer disease in an elderly Chinese population with differing educational levels.

Full Abstract

In this study, the authors (1) validated a concise neuropsychologic assessment battery to identify early Alzheimer disease (AD) in an elderly Chinese population, (2) studied how the level of literacy in this cohort influenced the psychometric test performance, (3) determined the best individual and combination of tests from the battery to detect AD, and (4) compared their results with parallel data from Western and other similar Chinese neuropsychologic studies. The psychometric battery was administered to 155 cognitively healthy elderly Chinese and 72 predominantly mild AD patients. Results showed that the majority of tests in this neuropsychologic battery validly identified early AD in the elderly Chinese subjects. Correct interpretation of test scores required adjustment for patients' educational attainments. Verbal memory, verbal fluency, and visuospatial functioning were the most important diagnostic domains, and this pattern has broad similarities with findings from the West, supporting the transcultural cognitive manifestation of AD.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Sahadevan, Suresh (S); Lim, Joy P'ing Ping (JP); Tan, Noellyn Jong Li (NJ); Chan, Siew Pang (SP);

Affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Tan Tock Seng, Singapore. suresh_sahadevan(-atsign-)notes.ttsh.gov.sgf

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Alzheimer disease and associated disorders (Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2002 Apr-Jun; vol 16 (issue 2) : pp 65-72

Dates: Created 2002/05/31; Completed 2002/07/08; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12040301, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; ethnology; psychology
Cohort Studies
Cultural Characteristics
Educational Status
Female

Female
Humans
Language
Male
Memory
Middle Aged
Psychometrics

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.