Welsh K, Butters N, Hughes J, Mohs R, Heyman A
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
Arch Neurol. 1991 Mar;48(3):278-81. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1991.00530150046016.
The present study was designed to determine which of the memory tasks included in the CERAD (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease) neuropsychological battery best differentiate patients with early Alzheimer's disease from cognitively normal elderly control subjects and also best distinguish between the various levels of severity of the dementia process. A sample of CERAD patients with Alzheimer's disease was stratified by disease severity into those with mild, moderate, or severe dementia and matched with control subjects for sex, age, and education. Using multivariate procedures and cutting scores, the efficacy of each memory measure in distinguishing between these groups and control subjects was determined. The test for delayed recall was found to be the best overall discriminatory measure. The other tests of memory, ie, immediate recall, intrusion errors, and recognition memory, had poor overall discriminability. None of the CERAD memory measures were found to be particularly powerful in staging the severity of dementia. These findings suggest that tests for delayed recall may be particularly useful in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and should be considered in screening batteries for dementia in community surveys.
本研究旨在确定阿尔茨海默病注册协会（CERAD）神经心理成套测验中包含的哪些记忆任务能够最好地将早期阿尔茨海默病患者与认知正常的老年对照受试者区分开来，同时也能最好地区分痴呆症进程的不同严重程度。将一组CERAD阿尔茨海默病患者按疾病严重程度分为轻度、中度或重度痴呆患者，并在性别、年龄和教育程度方面与对照受试者进行匹配。使用多变量程序和划界分数，确定了每种记忆测量方法在区分这些组与对照受试者方面的有效性。发现延迟回忆测试是总体上最佳的鉴别测量方法。其他记忆测试，即即时回忆、侵入性错误和识别记忆，总体鉴别能力较差。未发现CERAD记忆测量方法在痴呆症严重程度分期方面特别有效。这些发现表明，延迟回忆测试在阿尔茨海默病的早期检测中可能特别有用，并且在社区调查的痴呆症筛查成套测验中应予以考虑。
