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Lack of Practice Effects on Neuropsychological Tests as Early Cognitive Markers of Alzheimer Disease?

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Stafan Bläsi, MA

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Manfred Berres, PhD

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Rene Spiegel, PhD

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Andreas U. Monsch, PhD

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, andreas.monsch@ unibas.ch

Reliable assessment of change from previous cognitive functioning is a prerequisite for determining the possible presence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated whether standardized change scores on the German version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease-Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (CERAD-NAB) could be used for early diagnosis of AD and whether change scores on the CERAD-NAB are superior in this respect to scores recorded on 1 occasion only. Three hundred seventy-four normal control subjects were assessed twice. Data from 95 patients with mostly mild probable AD were collected at their first entry to a memory clinic and an average of 1.1 ± 0.24 years later. It is concluded that repeated testing with the CERAD-NAB does not generally add to improved diagnostic accuracy for mild and very mild AD and cannot, therefore, be recommended as a routine clinical procedure.

Key Words: neuropsychological change • early dementia • longitudinal assessment • change score

American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias®, Vol. 22, No. 5, 416-426 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1533317507302448


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