[Validation of the Short Cognitive Battery (B2C). Value in screening for Alzheimer's disease and depressive disorders in psychiatric practice].

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to demonstrate that the Short Cognitive Evaluation Battery developed in the French language is able to discriminate between patients suffering from AD and healthy elderly subjects. The results clearly demonstrate that AD patients were significantly impaired in all four tests of the B2C compared with the control group. The present study also supports the use of the screening battery for discriminating between AD and depressive subjects. The SCEB was less discriminatory for AD versus depressive patients than for AD versus controls. This could be due to the limited size of the depressive group. The verbal fluency test was the most sensitive for discriminating between AD and depression but this was at the expense of specificity. Other brief screening tests have already been developed in English speaking countries, In French language, the B2C appears to be a highly sensitive and specific tool for discriminating between patients with mild AD and healthy elderly individuals. Furthermore, in combination with clinical evaluation, the B2C could improve the specificity of the difficult discrimination between mild AD and depression. The next step of the validation process will include concurrent validity study and inclusion of a higher number of subjects with depressive symptoms.