A comparison study of mild cognitive impairment with 3 memory tests among Chinese individuals.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether 3 common memory tests differ statistically in terms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) discrimination rates and conversion rates to Alzheimer disease.


METHODS
A sample of 329 Chinese patients who consulted our memory clinic in Shanghai were tested using tasks including the auditory verbal learning test (AVLT), the logical memory (LM) test, the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test, and other neuropsychologic tasks. One hundred and forty-nine of these patients were tested again using the identical tests 2 years later. The diagnose standard of probable Alzheimer disease is the same as the standard of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke-Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Association.


RESULTS
The results of the MCI discrimination rates are as follows: AVLT-II (51%) >AVLT-I (31%) > complex figure test-II (27%) >LM-I (21%)=LM-II (21%) (I-immediate recall; II-delayed recall). The MCI group categorized based on LM-II cutoff has a higher conversion rate per year (24%), but also a higher reversal rate and missed diagnosis rate, whereas the group based on AVLT-II cutoff has a lower conversion rate per year (12%), but also a lower reversal rate and missed diagnosis rate.


CONCLUSIONS
The MCI discrimination rate and the conversion rate among different episodic memory tests are differ considerably.
Guo
Qihao
Q
Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. guoqihao@hotmail.com
Zhao
Qianhua
Q
Chen
Meirong
M
Ding
Ding
D
Hong
Zhen
Z
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity