Validation of the modified telephone interview for cognitive status (TICS-m) in Hebrew.
BACKGROUND
The validity of the Hebrew version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-Modified (TICS-m) for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), for dementia, and for cognitive impairment (either MCI or dementia) was investigated.


METHODS
Of the 10 059 who took part of the Israel Ischemic Heart Disease Cohort, 1902 of the 2901 survivors in 1999 had TICS-m interviews. Those with a score of 27 or below and a random sample with a score of 28 or 29 were invited to have a physician's examination for the diagnosis of dementia. The analysis was performed on the 576 who agreed.


RESULTS
Based on physician's diagnosis, 269 were diagnosed as suffering from dementia, 128 as suffering from MCI, and 179 were diagnosed with no cognitive impairment. The TICS-m Hebrew version's internal consistency was very high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.98) and showed a strong convergent validity with the MMSE (r = 0.82; p < 0.0005). The sensitivity was 100% for each of the conditions. Finally, after controlling for age, education and hearing impairment, TICS-m was a strong predictor of dementia, MCI and cognitive impairment.


CONCLUSIONS
At a cut-off of 27/50 the Hebrew version of the TICS-m is a useful screening instrument to identify subjects suffering from mild cognitive impairment, dementia and cognitive impairment (MCI or dementia).
Beeri
Michal Schnaider
MS
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Biomathematical Sciences Department, One Gustave Levy Place, New York 10029-3945, USA. michal.beeri@mssm.edu
Werner
Perla
P
Davidson
Michael
M
Schmidler
James
J
Silverman
Jeremy
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017216:Telemedicine; D013689:Telephone