A group of British researchers say they have developed a screening tool for Alzheimer’s disease that is more accurate and efficient than the mini mental state evaluation (MMSE).
The Test Your Memory (TYM) tool covers 10 tasks and is carried out by the patients themselves.
The researchers who developed and trialled the tool at the Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge, claim that the new tool is better at detecting people with milder forms of Alzheimer’s disease.
In a preliminary study, the TYM tool identified 93 per cent of people with Alzheimer’s disease while the MMSE only detected 52 per cent, according to the researchers.
Over 90 patients who had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease had an average TYM score of 33/50, compared to an average score of 47/50 among a control group of 540.
Consultant neurologist and lead researcher, Dr Jeremy Brown told the BBC that the tool could improve early diagnosis.
But the paper stressed that the TYM is a screening tool and is not suitable for making a diagnosis on its own.
Clinical experts in Britain also said that further testing is necessary to validate the findings of Dr Brown’s trial.
The CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia, Glenn Rees agreed, saying the TYM would need to be trialled among a broader population base before it could be recommended for use.
“There is excitement around the fact that this tool is potentially more accurate, quicker to fill out and it seems to relate to a wider range of domains than the MMSE,” he said.
“It could be a useful screening tool but we are at the beginning of establishing its credibility…and clinicians tend to stay with tools that they know.”
