Testing Episodic Memory in Elderly Subjects: Not as Simple as It Looks.

IF 1.4 Q4 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra Pub Date : 2019-06-18 eCollection Date: 2019-05-01 DOI:10.1159/000499836

Leo Boelaarts, Sascha R A Meyer, Philip Scheltens, Jos F M de Jonghe

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Background/aims: The available episodic memory tests are not specifically constructed to examine older subjects. Their use in outpatient memory clinics may result in aborted test administration. We used a strict adherence to the test protocol in cognitively healthy, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and Alzheimer's disease dementia subjects to assess the possibility of preventing this.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in memory outpatient subjects with a mean age of 74.5 years. Primary study outcomes were: number of missing values and test results in the Visual Association Test (VAT) and the 15 Word Test (15WT).

Results: A strict adherence to the test protocol resulted in a 10-fold decrease in the number of missing values in the VAT. For the 15WT this could not be realized mostly because the test was deemed too demanding for 1 in 6 patients.

Conclusions: This study is one of the few examining the applicability of well-known episodic memory tests in older subjects. A strict adherence to the test protocol reduced the number of missing values. Floor effects were stronger for the 15WT than for the VAT. Results favor the use of the VAT in senior subjects and show the unsuitability of the 15WT in this group.

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老年人情景记忆测试:不像看起来那么简单。

背景/目的:现有的情景记忆测试并不是专门用来检查老年受试者的。他们在门诊记忆诊所的使用可能导致流产的测试管理。我们在认知健康、遗忘性轻度认知障碍(aMCI)和阿尔茨海默病痴呆受试者中严格遵守测试方案，以评估预防这种情况的可能性。方法:这是一项平均年龄74.5岁的记忆门诊患者的横断面研究。主要研究结果为:视觉联想测试(VAT)和15字测试(15WT)的缺失值数量和测试结果。结果:严格遵守测试协议导致增值税中缺失值的数量减少10倍。对于15WT来说，这一点无法实现，主要是因为该测试被认为对六分之一的患者要求太高。结论:这项研究是为数不多的对众所周知的情景记忆测试在老年受试者中的适用性进行检验的研究之一。严格遵守测试协议减少了缺失值的数量。15WT的地板效应比VAT的更强。结果支持在老年受试者中使用VAT，并显示15WT在该组不适合。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra Medicine-Psychiatry and Mental Health

CiteScore

4.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

9 weeks

期刊介绍： This open access and online-only journal publishes original articles covering the entire spectrum of cognitive dysfunction such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea and other neurodegenerative diseases. The journal draws from diverse related research disciplines such as psychogeriatrics, neuropsychology, clinical neurology, morphology, physiology, genetic molecular biology, pathology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology and pharmaceutics. Strong emphasis is placed on the publication of research findings from animal studies which are complemented by clinical and therapeutic experience to give an overall appreciation of the field. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra provides additional contents based on reviewed and accepted submissions to the main journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra .