Screening for dementia by memory testing

TLDR

Enhanced cued recall is a simple, clinically useful memory test that distinguishes genuine memory deficits linked to dementia from strategy‑related deficits, making it highly predictive of clinical dementia in the elderly. The study aimed to validate enhanced cued recall as a dementia screening test. It evaluated 70 aged subjects using the test to assess its diagnostic performance. The test correctly classified 97 % of 120 subjects, misclassifying only one pure amnesic, and outperformed free recall and recognition by revealing learning not seen in free recall and more accurately distinguishing demented from nondemented elderly.

Abstract

Enhanced cued recall provides a simple and clinically useful memory test for identifying dementia in the elderly. Because this test induces semantic processing and coordinates encoding and retrieval for maximum recall, genuine memory deficits due to impairment of specific memory processes can be distinguished from apparent memory deficits due to use of inefficient strategies or impairment of other cognitive processes. Since genuine memory deficits in the elderly are usually associated with dementia, their identification is highly predictive of clinical dementia. The present study validates the use of enhanced cued recall as a screening test for dementia in 70 aged subjects. All but one person with a pure amnesia were correctly classified. Enhanced cued recall correctly classified 97% of the 120 subjects in this and the previous study. Enhanced cued recall shows learning not revealed by free recall, providing more accurate measurement of memory, and distinguishes demented from nondemented elderly more accurately than either free recall or recognition.