Standardization of Korean version of 7-Minute Screen Test

BACKGROUND: The 7-Minute screen (7MS) test consists of four individual tests (Benton orientation test, Enhanced cued recall, Clock drawing and Category fluency). It can be used in the early detection of dementia in the primary care setting. The aim of this study is to develop the Korean version of 7MS and to obtain normal values for the Korean elderly population. METHODS: The 7MS was translated into Korean and modified by a group of several neurologists, psychi-atrists and family physicians. Some pictures that were considered less familiar with Korean elderly people were replaced by familiar items. The Korean version was administered to 330 elderly people who visited one Health Promotion Center. Of these, nineteen subjects were excluded in the final analysis because they did not meet the inclu-sion criteria for normal elderly. RESULTS: The mean age and education level of the subjects were 64.2 +/-5.4 years and 1 1 . 5 +/-4.8 years, respectively. Mean K-MMSE (Korean version of minimental examination) score was 27.63 +/-1 . 7 4 . Mean scores of 4 individual tests of the Korean version of 7MS significantly correlated with education level(for each, p < 0.01), but not with age. The mean score of clock drawing test in men was significantly greater than that of women ( p < 0.00). CONCLUSIONS: We provide normal values of Benton orientation test, Enhanced cued recall and Category flu-ency according to educational level (more than 6 years and 6 years or less than it), and those of Clock drawing test according to gender and education level.

Assessment of Congnitive Disorders in Alcoholics Using the 7 Minute Screening Battery

OBJECTIVES: Chronic alcohol consumption has been known to result in various neurocognitive deficits. Many neuropsychological studies revealed that the major disturbances occurred in the executive function learning and short-term memory. visuospatial performance function, perceptuo-motor skills and abstraction and problem solving abilities. This study was done to identify which cognitive areas might be mainly affected. METHODS: The cognitive disturbance was evaluated using the Korean Version of the Mini Mental State Examination(MMSEK) and the 7 Minute Screen(7MS) in male inpatients with alcohol dependence(N=31) as well as in age and education level matched healthy male controls(N=30) Four individual tests of the 7MS were consisted of the Benton Temporal Orientation Test the Enhanced Cued Recall, the Clock Drawing and the Category Fluency. RESULTS: 1) The average scores of four individual test of the 7MS for the alcoholics were 2.77+/-4.38 for the Benton Temporal Orientation Test. 13.90+/-2.02 for the Memory Test(the Cued Recall 6.77+/-1.94, the Uncued Recall 7.10+/-2.45), 5.84+/-1.86 for the Clock Drawing and 12.58+/-3.29 for the Category Fluency. Except the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, there were statistically significant differences between test scores of alcoholics and those of controls(p or =24(N=28) 3) Four individual test scores of the 7MS seemed to have statistically significant association with such variables as MMSE-K, duration of alcohol drinking blood magnesium concentration liver function and thyroid function. CONCLUSION: Mild deficits of cognitive areas such as orientation, memory, visuospatial abilities and verbal fluency could be found in alcohol dependence.

Comparison of Cognitive Disorders in Dementia, Major Depressive Disorder and Alcohol Dependence Using the 7 Minute Screening Battery

OBJECTIVES: 'The 7 Minute Screen' was reported so sensitive to discriminate mild dementia. The test results were not influenced by the education, age and sex. Furthermore, the examiners needed no professional training. The tests covered the cognitive areas such as memory, oritention to time, verbal fluency and visuospatial or visuoconstructional abilities. The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficiency of 'The 7 Minute Screen' to discriminate differences between illnesses, and to analyze the factors affecting the test results. METHODS: 'The 7 Minute Screen' and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were obtained from 36 inpatients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (N=8), vascular dementia (N=8), Major depressive disorders (N=10) and alcohol dependence (N=10). The test battery was consisted of the Benton Temporal Orientation, the Enhanced Cued Recall, the Clock Drawing and the Category Fluency. RESULTS: 1) On the Benton Temporal Orientation, the highest mean scores were obtained in vascular dementia. On the memory, the lowest mean scores were obtained in vascular dementia, especially on the Uncued Recall in the dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and on the Cued Recall in vascular dementia. On the Clock Drawing, the lowest mean scores were obtained in the dementia of the Alzheimer's type. On the Category Fluency, the lowest mean scores were obtained in the dementia of the Alzheimer's type. 2) There was no statistically significant difference between 4 illness groups on the Benton Temporal Orientation. While there were no differences between 4 illness groups on total scores of memory and the Cued Recall, on the Uncued Recall showed significant difference between alcohol dependence and other illness groups (p<0.05). On the Clock Drawing, there was no significant difference between 4 illness groups. On the Category Fluency, there was significant difference between alcohol dependence and dementia of the Alzheimer's type and vascular dementia (p<0.001), and major depressive disorders (p<0.01). 3) In the dementia of the Alzheimer's type, the test scores of the Clocking Drawing were correlated positively with the education level (gamma=0.740, p<0.05), and negatively on the sex (gamma=-0.902, p<0.005), while in major depressive disorders, there was negative correlation between the Cued Recall and the age (gamma=-0.725, p<0.05). Otherwise, there were no significant correlation between the scores of individual tests with age, sex and educational level in vascular dementia and alcohol dependence. CONCLUSIONS: 'The 7 Minute Screen' seemed to be more superior to find out mild cognitive deficit than the Mini-Mental State Examination as well as it might be useful to discriminate differences between illnesses. However, some individual test results of a kind of illnesses could be influenced by the education level, age and sex.

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.