[DemTect-B: A parallel test version to the cognitive screening instrument DemTect-A].
BACKGROUND
Cognitive screening methods are useful, although non-exclusive instruments in dementia diagnosis. One such screening is the DemTect-A, which was introduced in Germany in 2000 and has since found widespread use. In the form of the DemTect-B an equivalent test for the DemTect-A is presented. Due to its identical level of difficulty, the DemTect-B is also suitable for follow-up investigations. No other screening test in German-speaking countries has a parallel version.


METHODS
80 control subjects with a mean age of 65 years (SD = 0.83, 46 women, 34 men) participated in the investigation. To test for equivalence, Dem-Tect-A and DemTect-B were offered in randomised order. With all the control subjects, the CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale) has been carried out to exclude cognitive impairment. The structure of the DemTect-B is nearly identical to that of the DemTect, only the semantic fluency task "supermarket" has been replaced with an animal naming task in the B version. For this task, a separate conversion had to be calculated. Upon completion of this transformation, the total test values did not differ on a statistically significant level.


CONCLUSIONS
The DemTect-B is a replication of the DemTect-A and both can be mutually interchanged. It is applied especially in the course of examinations and is a useful tool to identify even patients with mild dementia and mild cognitive impairment.
Kessler
J
J
Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie, Universitätsklinik Köln. Josef.Kessler@uk-koeln.de
Calabrese
P
P
Kalbe
E
E
D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results