Differentiating Mild Forms of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Where Other Tests Fail, Verbal Memory Assessment May Prove Critical

Year 2021, Volume: 22 Issue: 2, 187 - 195, 31.08.2021

Ahmet Şair , Yaşan Bilge Şair , Simel Ayar

https://doi.org/10.4274/meandros.galenos.2021.53824

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Objective: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia are common. In both cases, objective symptoms of cognitive impairment are present; as such, diagnosis is based on patient history and cognitive examination. This study aimed to investigate the role of neurocognitive tests in the discrimination of these disorders, by comparing mild dementia with MCI.
Materials and Methods: A battery of neurocognitive tests were applied to patients admitted to the neurology and psychiatry clinics with diagnoses of MCI (n=30) or Alzheimer-type dementia (mild, n=23; moderate, n=19).
Results: The three groups demonstrated significant differences in the neurocognitive tests, but the mild dementia and MCI groups almost always had similar results. Only the Öktem verbal memory processes test showed significantly different results in the comparison of MCI and mild dementia, with better scores in the MCI group than in the mild dementia group in terms of total learning and delayed free recall subtests (p=0.023 and p=0.001).
Conclusion: The short-term memory recall (total learning) and long-term memory recall (delayed free recall) subtests of the verbal memory processes test can guide in the discrimination of MCI from mild dementia.

Keywords

Cognitive impairment , dementia , neurocognitive tests , Öktem verbal memory processes test

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