TY - JOUR T1 - Development and validation of a brief cognitive assessment tool: the sweet 16. JF - Arch Intern Med Y1 - 2011 A1 - Tamara G Fong A1 - Richard N Jones A1 - James L Rudolph A1 - Frances Margaret Yang A1 - Tommet, Douglas A1 - Habtemariam, Daniel A1 - Edward R Marcantonio A1 - Kenneth M. Langa A1 - Sharon K Inouye KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Cognition Disorders KW - Cohort Studies KW - Dementia KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Neuropsychological tests KW - Surveys and Questionnaires AB -

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is often unrecognized among older adults. Meanwhile, current assessment instruments are underused, lack sensitivity, or may be restricted by copyright laws. To address these limitations, we created a new brief cognitive assessment tool: the Sweet 16.

METHODS: The Sweet 16 was developed in a cohort from a large post-acute hospitalization study (n=774) and compared with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Equipercentile equating identified Sweet 16 cut points that correlated with widely used MMSE cut points. Sweet 16 performance characteristics were independently validated in a cohort from the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study (n=709) using clinical consensus diagnosis, the modified Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE).

RESULTS: The Sweet 16 correlated highly with the MMSE (Spearman r, 0.94; P<.001). Validated against the IQCODE, the area under the curve was 0.84 for the Sweet 16 and 0.81 for the MMSE (P=.06). A Sweet 16 score of less than 14 (approximating an MMSE score <24) demonstrated a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 70%, whereas an MMSE score of less than 24 showed a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 86% against the IQCODE. When compared with clinical diagnosis, a Sweet 16 score of less than 14 showed a sensitivity of 99% and a specificity of 72% in contrast to an MMSE score with a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 89%. For education of 12 years or more, the area under the curve was 0.90 for the Sweet 16 and 0.84 for the MMSE (P=.03).

CONCLUSIONS: The Sweet 16 is simple, quick to administer, and will be available open access. The performance of the Sweet 16 is equivalent or superior to that of the MMSE.

PB - 171 VL - 171 IS - 5 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21059967?dopt=Abstract U3 - 21059967 U4 - Older people/Cognition/reasoning/Correlation analysis/Medical diagnosis/Dementia/Hospitalization ER -