BrainCheck - a very brief tool to detect incipient cognitive decline: optimized case-finding combining patient- and informant-based data.

Ehrensperger, Michael M; Taylor, Kirsten I; Berres, Manfred; Foldi, Nancy S; Dellenbach, Myriam; Bopp, Irene; Gold, Gabriel; von Gunten, Armin; Inglin, Daniel; Müri, René Martin; Rüegger, Brigitte; Kressig, Reto W; Monsch, Andreas U (2014). BrainCheck - a very brief tool to detect incipient cognitive decline: optimized case-finding combining patient- and informant-based data. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 6(9), p. 69. BioMed Central 10.1186/s13195-014-0069-y

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INTRODUCTION

Optimal identification of subtle cognitive impairment in the primary care setting requires a very brief tool combining (a) patients' subjective impairments, (b) cognitive testing, and (c) information from informants. The present study developed a new, very quick and easily administered case-finding tool combining these assessments ('BrainCheck') and tested the feasibility and validity of this instrument in two independent studies.

METHODS

We developed a case-finding tool comprised of patient-directed (a) questions about memory and depression and (b) clock drawing, and (c) the informant-directed 7-item version of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Feasibility study: 52 general practitioners rated the feasibility and acceptance of the patient-directed tool. Validation study: An independent group of 288 Memory Clinic patients (mean ± SD age = 76.6 ± 7.9, education = 12.0 ± 2.6; 53.8% female) with diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment (n = 80), probable Alzheimer's disease (n = 185), or major depression (n = 23) and 126 demographically matched, cognitively healthy volunteer participants (age = 75.2 ± 8.8, education = 12.5 ± 2.7; 40% female) partook. All patient and healthy control participants were administered the patient-directed tool, and informants of 113 patient and 70 healthy control participants completed the very short IQCODE.

RESULTS

Feasibility study: General practitioners rated the patient-directed tool as highly feasible and acceptable. Validation study: A Classification and Regression Tree analysis generated an algorithm to categorize patient-directed data which resulted in a correct classification rate (CCR) of 81.2% (sensitivity = 83.0%, specificity = 79.4%). Critically, the CCR of the combined patient- and informant-directed instruments (BrainCheck) reached nearly 90% (that is 89.4%; sensitivity = 97.4%, specificity = 81.6%).

CONCLUSION

A new and very brief instrument for general practitioners, 'BrainCheck', combined three sources of information deemed critical for effective case-finding (that is, patients' subject impairments, cognitive testing, informant information) and resulted in a nearly 90% CCR. Thus, it provides a very efficient and valid tool to aid general practitioners in deciding whether patients with suspected cognitive impairments should be further evaluated or not ('watchful waiting').

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Neurology

UniBE Contributor:

Müri, René Martin

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

1758-9193

Publisher:

BioMed Central

Language:

English

Submitter:

Valentina Rossetti

Date Deposited:

26 Feb 2015 14:36

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:41

Publisher DOI:

10.1186/s13195-014-0069-y

PubMed ID:

25422675

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.63623

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/63623

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