title: [Memory, fluency, and orientation: a five-minute screening test for cognitive decline].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) will double in the next 20 years, making early detection a key priority.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Validation of a 5-minute CI screening test.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adults aged 60 and older were recruited from memory clinics and the community at large in the Santiago, Chile metropolitan area. Based on clinical examination they were categorised as No CI (NCI), Mild CI (MCI) and dementia sufferers (DS). We measured the validity of a new test, MEFO, evaluating memory (5 points), phonetic verbal fluency (2 points) and orientation (6 points) by comparing its results with those from the MMSE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We evaluated 214 subjects, comprising 49 with dementia, 47 with MCI, and 118 with no CI. The MEFO differentiated between all 3 groups whereas the MMSE did not discriminate between the MCI and NCI groups. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the MEFO distinguishing NCI subjects from dementia sufferers was 0.97; for NCI vs CI (dementia+MCI), 0.89; and for NCI vs MCI, 0.80. On the MMSE these values were 0.95, 0.84, and 0.73, respectively. A cut-off score of 6/7 on the MEFO identified dementia sufferers with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 96%. A cut-off score of 8/9 distinguished CI from NCI subjects with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 75%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MEFO is a valid and reliable test for discriminating between dementia and CI sufferers and subjects with no CI. Its validity is similar to that the MMSE under these conditions, but it is more effective for identifying subjects with MCI and its administration time is shorter.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Dirección de Investigación Clínica, Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: cdelgado@med.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delgado Derio
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guerrero Bonnet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Troncoso Ponce
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Araneda Yañez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Slachevsky Chonchol
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Behrens Pellegrino
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014177:Translations; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*