ΕΠΙΚΑΙΡΑ ΘΕΜΑΤΑ ΨΥΧΟΣΩΜΑΤΙΚΗΣ ΥΓΕΙΑΣ Γης ΗΛΙΚΙΑΣ - II

The introduction of a short screening test for Major Neurocognitive Disorder by lay people. The psychometric properities of a legendary story.

Solias A¹ Alevizou A.²  Beratis I.³  Degleris N.⁴

^1. Social Worker Munisipality of Ilion ansol3366@gmail.com

^2. Φιλόλογος – Νομικός Αντιδήμαρχος Κοινωνικών Υπηρεσιών και Υγείας Δήμου Ιλίου analevizou@yahoo.gr 

^3. Psychologist – Neuropsychologist ATTIKO Hospital ionas98@hotmail.com

^4. Neurologist - Psychiatrist –Ψυχίατρος, Πρόεδρος του Κλάδου Ψυχο-Γηριατρικής της ΕΨΕ mail: nikosdegleris52@gmail.com .

Abstract.

Key words: screening, lay people

The worldwide increase life expectancy makes more aged people vulnerable to some form of dementia. Many elders facing memory problems avoid seeking help in early stages. The objective of this study as to evaluate a new tool easy that can be administered by laypeople (e.g. senior center staff or caregivers) screening for cognitive decline.

METHOD. This is an ongoing population based study in an urban area in Greece (municipality of Ilion). A total of 331 community dwellers (55-85+years old) attending senior centers participated voluntarily in the study and were assessed with Hagia Sophia Test (HAST), as well as the MMSE, 3MS, and CDT tests. HAST was developed so that it committed to be administered by laypeople and briefly assesses attention, concentration, memory, orientation, as well as abstract and critical thought. The test administration takes totally 6 minutes. At first we dictate the whole text (approximately 1’30”). After 5 min we demand the elder to fulfill the blank spaces (20 words in 4min) of the story.

RESULTS: By estimating Pearson product moment, statistically significant correlations were found between MMSE, 3MS,CDT and the AST ranged from .487 to.372 (p<.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) estimation of the HAST’s screening value with other measures as gold standards (MMSE, 3MS, CDT), yielded Area under Curve ranged from .733 to .761.

CONCLUSIONS: SST represents a useful layperson screening tool that can assist in detecting cognitive deficits among the aged, including in individuals without dementia.