How Effective Is The Brain Cognitive Test In Assessing Risk Of Dementia?
I scored in the "at risk" range for mci which was one sd below the mean. I did another online test the memtrax and scored 100% which was "very good". I dont understand the discrepancies between my scores. Ive done the ravlt before and scored very highly but this new score worries me
Its does screening to some extent,in some domains.
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,
Thanks for being on healthcaremagic.com.
I am Dr.Ajay Panwar,a neurologist,here to answer your query.
I have seen the profile of this cognitive test.It tests some of your cognitive domains based on visual stimulus.
First of all,it does not test all the domains for classifying a patient to have Dementia .It does not test- Fund of knowledge,memory,all aspects of language.What it tests is-some components of language based on visual input like complex figures.
There are reasons for which one can easily get low scores on this-
1)Even a normal person can show at risk considering the complexities in the advanced sections of the test.
2)Some may not know the dictionary words for some objects/instruments correctly.
Clinical tests are much more valid and realistic for Dementia evaluation.Even,MMSE(Mini mental scoring examination) gets a much better impression.
Further,any dementia test is only valid if patient has symptoms.In complex figures formation,I have seen many normal persons failing-that does not mean all of them were having dementia.Clinics came first,then the tests.
So,I don't see any reason to worry just because you scored low here.Absolutely not.
Hope that I have answered your query.If you have some further questions,I shall be glad to answer else please close the thread,rate it and write a review as your rating will be of help to me.
Regards
Dr.Ajay Panwar,
MD,DM(Neurology)