Clinical Efficacy of the Individual Tests in 7 Minute Screen Test(7MS) / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to provide standard data of the individual tests in 7MS that could generalized for Korean elderly according to age and education. We also evaluated diagnostic efficacy of each test in 7MS. METHODS: Data on demographic characteristics of 311 normals were gathered for comparison. We also assessed two differences between normal and dementia group in individual tests of 7MS. RESULTS: All individual tests of 7MS showed significant differences in sex, age, and education, except for ECR. But there were no significant differences in sex controlling age and education. As a result of ROC curve, the ability of the ECR test to discriminate between AD and normal subject appeared superior. The scores of the individual tests of 7MS among CDR 0.5 and 1 group and normal group were compared. It was also found that the ECR test stands out among 7MS tests. CONCLUSION: The 7MS, particularly ECR, had the highest sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of AD as well as early dementia. It suggests that the individual tests of 7MS are useful to predict early dementia, without using the complex logistic regression equation.

A Validation Study of a Korean Version of the 7-minute Screen Test

BACKGROUND: To assess the validity of a recently developed Korean version of the 7-minute screen (7MSK) consisting of 4 brief tests such as Benton temporal orientation, enhanced cured recall, clock drawing and category fluency to distinguish between patients with probable or possible Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy control subjects. METHODS: From March 2001 to February 2002, the 7MSK and K-MMSE was administered to the 105 patients, who were diagnosed as having probable or possible AD, vascular dementia or MCI with successive referrals to two memory disorder and dementia clinics in Seoul, and to 311 healthy control subjects who were not excluded for normal elderly by health screen criteria. We determined inter-group comparison between patients with dementia and the controls on the 4 individual tests and the probability of dementia for patients with AD, VD and MCI. RESULTS: Mean scores for the patients with AD, VD and MCI and the control subjects on all 4 individual tests were significantly different (for each, P<0.001). When the 4 tests were combined in a logistic regression after adjusting for age and education level, the battery had a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 90% with an optimal cut-off point of the predicted probability of 0.15. The 7MSK was equally sensitive in patients with mild AD or VD. CONCLUSION: The 7MSK has a high validity for diagnosis of AD, VD or MCI. It may be a useful tool for early dementia screening.

Clinical efficacy of the 7-Minute Screen at primary care setting

BACKGROUND: Because dementia tends to be underdiagnosed, Solomon PR developed a brief neurocognitive screening battery to identify Alzheimer's dementia. The 7-Minute Screen consists of four individual tests(orientation, memory, clock drawing, verbal fluency). It can be rapidly administered and it may be appropriately used in the primary care setting. We attempted to develop a screening tool of dementia based on the 7-Minute Screen at primary care setting in Korea. METHODS: We adapted the 7 Minute Screen to the Korean version of 7 Minute Screen(7 MS-K). 7 MS-K and MMSE-K were administered to 61 elderly people who visited the Sungbuk Public Health Center. Inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability were evaluated. RESULTS: The 7 MS-K has a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 90% for cutoff point of MMSE-K 23/24. Inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability for the entire battery was very high(both r=1). Mean time of administration was 10 minutes. CONCLUSION: 7 MS-K has a reasonable validity, reliability and can be administered in a brief period, and requires no clinical judgement and minimal training. It may be a useful tool for screening dementias in primary care setting.