Solomon P R, Pendlebury W W
Department of Psychology, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., USA.
Fam Med. 1998 Apr;30(4):265-71.
Because Alzheimer's disease (AD) tends to be underdiagnosed, we developed a brief neurocognitive screening battery to identify AD patients. The 7 Minute Screen consists of four individual tests (orientation, memory, clock drawing, verbal fluency). The screen can be rapidly administered and scored and therefore may be appropriate for use in the primary care setting. This study determined the validity and reliability of the 7 Minute Screen in distinguishing patients with AD from healthy controls.
The 7 Minute Screen was administered to 60 consecutive referrals to a memory disorders clinic who were subsequently diagnosed with probable AD and to 60 community-dwelling individuals. Analysis of the combined scores on the four individual tests was used to determine the probability of dementia in each subject. We also evaluated test-retest and inter-rater reliability, as well as the time required to administer the battery.
When compared with the normal subjects, the patients with AD were significantly more impaired on each of the four tests included in the 7 Minute Screen. When the four tests were combined into a logistic regression model, the battery correctly diagnosed 92% of the patients with AD and 96% of the normal subjects. The battery performed equally well when only patients with mild and very mild AD were included. Mean time for administration and scoring was 7 minutes 42 seconds.
The 7 Minute Screen is a reliable and valid instrument for identifying patients with AD. It appears to be a potentially useful tool for identifying patients with AD in a primary care setting.
由于阿尔茨海默病（AD）往往诊断不足，我们开发了一种简短的神经认知筛查量表以识别AD患者。7分钟筛查量表由四项独立测试（定向力、记忆力、画钟试验、语言流畅性）组成。该筛查量表可快速实施和评分，因此可能适用于初级保健环境。本研究确定了7分钟筛查量表在区分AD患者与健康对照方面的有效性和可靠性。
对连续转诊至记忆障碍门诊且随后被诊断为可能患有AD的60例患者以及60例社区居民进行7分钟筛查量表测试。对四项独立测试的综合得分进行分析，以确定每个受试者患痴呆症的概率。我们还评估了重测信度和评分者间信度，以及实施该量表所需的时间。
与正常受试者相比，AD患者在7分钟筛查量表所包含的四项测试中的每一项上受损程度均显著更高。当将这四项测试纳入逻辑回归模型时，该量表正确诊断出92%的AD患者和96%的正常受试者。仅纳入轻度和极轻度AD患者时，该量表表现同样良好。实施和评分的平均时间为7分42秒。
7分钟筛查量表是识别AD患者的可靠且有效的工具。它似乎是在初级保健环境中识别AD患者的潜在有用工具。
