Yamaguchi Facial Expression-Making Task in Alzheimer's Disease: A Novel and Enjoyable Make-a-Face Game.
BACKGROUND
To assess the ability to make emotional facial expressions, we newly developed the Yamaguchi facial expression-making task (Y-FEMT).


METHODS
We recruited 20 normal controls and 61 outpatients: 10 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), 34 with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 17 with moderate AD. In the Y-FEMT, smile and anger expressions were made by arranging face parts. We examined the relationship between each Y-FEMT score and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score or overlapping figure identification test (Fig-test).


RESULTS
The Total score (0-20) was nearly achieved in controls (18.9 ± 1.4) and declined with AD progression (aMCI 17.2 ± 2.4, mild AD 15.7 ± 2.6, moderate AD 12.3 ± 2.7). The Anger score (0-10) was significantly lower than the Smile score (0-10) in mild and moderate AD (p = 0.007 and p = 0.006, respectively). The Structure score (0-6 each) correlated well with both the MMSE score (r = 0.44, p < 0.001) and Fig-test (r = 0.45, p < 0.001), whereas the Expression score (0-4 each) correlated only with the MMSE score (r = 0.33, p = 0.01). The Subjective scores (0-4), evaluated by 10 therapists, highly correlated with the Total score. Additionally, the Y-FEMT promoted laughter and a convivial atmosphere.


CONCLUSIONS
The Y-FEMT pleasantly assessed the ability to make emotional facial expressions without special equipment. Furthermore, the Y-FEMT may provide helpful clues for caregivers to achieve good communication with AD patients for better care.
Gunma University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Gunma University of Health and Welfare, Maebashi, Japan.
Tomoharu
T
Yamaguchi
Yohko
Y
Maki
Haruyasu
H
Yamaguchi