Sensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological tests for dementia and mild cognitive impairment in a sample of residential elderly in South Africa

dc.contributor.authorChipps, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorRamlall, Suvira
dc.contributor.authorPillay, Basil
dc.contributor.authorBhigjee, Ahmed
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-29T18:40:22Z
dc.date.available2015-10-29T18:40:22Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND. Neuropsychological tests can successfully distinguish between healthy elderly persons and those with clinically significant cognitive impairment. Objectives. A battery of neuropsychological tests was evaluated for their discrimination validity of cognitive impairment in a group of elderly persons in Durban, South Africa. METHOD. A sample of 117 English-speaking participants of different race groups (9 with dementia, 30 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 78 controls) from a group of residential homes for the elderly was administered a battery of 11 neuropsychological tests. Kruskal-Wallis independent sample tests were used to compare performance of tests in the groups. Sensitivity and specificity of the tests for dementia and MCI were determined using random operating curve (ROC) analysis. RESULTS. Most tests were able to discriminate between participants with dementia or MCI, and controls (p<0.05). Area under the curve (AUC) values for dementia v. non-dementia participants ranged from 0.519 for the digit span (forward) to 0.828 for the digit symbol (90 s), with 14 of the 29 test scores achieving significance (p<0.05). AUC values for MCI participants ranged from 0.754 for controlled oral word association test (COWAT) (Animal) to 0.507 for the Rey complex figure test copy, with 17 of the 29 scores achieving significance (p<0.05). CONCLUSION. Several measures from the neuropsychological battery had discrimination validity for the differential diagnosis of cognitive disturbances in the elderly. Further studies are needed to assess the effect of culture and language on the appropriateness of the tests for different populations.en_US
dc.description.accreditationWeb of Scienceen_US
dc.identifier.citationRamlall, S., et al., (2014). Sensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological tests for dementia and mild cognitive impairment in a sample of residential elderly in South Africa. South Africa Journal of Psychiatry, vol20(4):153-159en_US
dc.identifier.issn1608-9685
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/1943
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterfalse
dc.publisherHealth & Medical Publishing Groupen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesSouth African Journal of Psychiatry;
dc.rightsAll articles published by the SAJP are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. The journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Work published in the journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial 3.0 Unported Works License (CC BY-NC 3.0).
dc.source.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.7196/SAJP.558
dc.status.ispeerreviewedtrue
dc.subjectDementiaen_US
dc.subjectScreeningen_US
dc.subjectNeuropsychologyen_US
dc.subjectElderlyen_US
dc.subjectMild cognitive impairment (MCI)en_US
dc.titleSensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological tests for dementia and mild cognitive impairment in a sample of residential elderly in South Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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