HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hirsch, C. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hirsch, C. Topic Collections EBM Diagnosis

The Mini Cog had high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing dementia in community dwelling older adults

Design
{Blinded comparison}^* of the Mini Cog with the CERAD, DSM-IV, and NINCDS-ADRDA and the MMSE and CASI.

Setting
Community based study in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Participants
249 community dwelling older adults (69% women) who reflected the 5 major ethnic groups in the US. Participants with uncertain or very mild cognitive impairment (Clinical Dementia Rating of 0.5) were excluded.

Description of test and diagnostic standards
The Mini Cog combines the 3 item recall and the Clock Drawing Test (CDT). Uncued recall was used in deriving a score for the 3 item recall. For the CDT, participants were instructed to draw a large circle, fill in the numbers on a clock face, and set the hands at 8:20, with no time limit to complete the task. The CDT was scored by 2 independent markers (0=no errors, 1–3=increasingly abnormal CDT). A series of Mini Cog scoring algorithms were tested by using various combinations of the 3 item recall and the . . . [Full text of this article]

Calvin Hirsch, MD

University of California at Davis Sacramento, California, USA