title: Usefulness of 2 questions about age and year of birth in the case-finding of dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that the efficacy of 2 simple questions commonly used in clinical practice, asking the age and year of birth of individuals, will be satisfactory to rule out cases of dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based, longitudinal, prospective study focused on the incidence of dementia. In the baseline, a 2-phase procedure for identifying cases and noncases of dementia was implemented.
  
  
  METHODS
  Zaragoza, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individuals 65 years or older without previous diagnoses of dementia (n = 3613) drawn from the population-based random sample of the ZARADEMP project.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standardized instruments were used, including the Geriatric Mental State (GMS) and the History and Aetiological Schedule (HAS); cases were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria ("reference standard"). The simple cognitive test used in this study consists of the following 2 compulsory questions: "How old are you?" and "What year were you born?"
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test was well accepted by the participants and took less than 30 seconds to complete. Compared with the "reference standard," validity coefficients for incorrect answers in both questions were as follows: sensitivity 61.2%, specificity 97.8%, positive predictive value 44.4%, negative predictive value 98.9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This ultra-short test has very good specificity and negative predictive power. Its use to rule out cases of dementia might be generalized, as it has the best efficiency reported to date.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Service, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Tirso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De-la-Cámara
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lopez-Anton
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santabárbara
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marcos
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Quintanilla
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campayo
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.forename: Juan Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saz
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Olaya
authors.forename: Josep María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.forename: Leocadio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Mañas
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sartorius
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lobo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Longitudinal community study; aging; case-finding; dementia; diagnostic tests; geriatric psychiatry; screening; ultra-short test