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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

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


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Zehnder, A. E. Articles by Monsch, A. U. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zehnder, A. E. Articles by Monsch, A. U. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Alzheimer's Disease Social Bookmarking                         What's this?