Verbal cued recall as a predictor of conversion to Alzheimer's disease in Mild Cognitive Impairment

• Published in: International journal of geriatric psychiatry Vol. 24; no. 10; pp. 1094 - 1100
• Main Authors: Dierckx, E., Engelborghs, S., De Raedt, R., Van Buggenhout, M., De Deyn, P. P., Verté, D., Ponjaert-Kristoffersen, I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.10.2009; Psychology Press; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Alzheimer's disease; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Cues; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; delayed verbal cued recall; Disease Progression; episodic memory; Female; Geriatric psychiatry; Geriatric psychology; Geriatrics; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medical sciences; Memory; Mental Recall; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; neuropsychology; Older people; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Recall; Regression analysis; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Verbal Learning; Belgium; Europe; Human; Social environment; Nervous system diseases; Cognitive disorder; Alzheimer disease; Mental health; neuropsychology; Cued recall; Cerebral disorder; delayed verbal cued recall; Delayed response; Language; Follow up study; Central nervous system disease; Evolution; Degenerative disease; mild cognitive impairment; Predictive factor; Episodic memory; Neuropsychologia; Elderly; Alzheimer's disease; Public health
• ISSN: 0885-6230; 1099-1166
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.2228

Objective This study was set up to investigate whether neuropsychological tests are able to predict conversion to AD among Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients. Methods At baseline the cognitive part of the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMCOG), the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), a Dutch variation of Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test, the Memory Impairment Screen plus (MISplus) and the Visual Association Test (VAT) were administered to 40 patients diagnosed with MCI. After 18 months, MCI‐patients were reassessed and a follow‐up diagnosis was established. Of those who were seen for follow‐up (n = 31), seven fulfilled (NINCDS‐ADRDA) criteria of probable AD, while 24 did not convert. Results A binary logistic regression analysis showed that the MISplus contributed most to the prediction of conversion (OR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.099–0.790). With a cut‐off of 2 out of 6, a positive predictive value of 71.5%, a negative predictive value of 91.5% and an overall diagnostic accuracy of 87.0% were achieved. Conclusions This prospective, longitudinal study shows that a score of 0 or 1 out of 6 on the MISplus may be a good indicator of future (within 18 months) progression to AD among MCI‐patients. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.