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Methods for Interpretation of Scores of 5 Neuropsychological Tests

Nachshon Meiran, PhD; Donald T. Stuss, PhD; D. Antonio Guzman, MD; Ginette Lafleche, PhD; Jonathan Willmer, MD

Arch Neurol. 1996;53(10):1043-1054.

Abstract
Objective
To provide methods to interpret and compare different neurobehavioral screening tests for the diagnosis of dementia.

Design
Five mental-status neuropsychological tools for dementia screening were administered to patients in a memory disorder clinic. These included the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Dementia Rating Scale, the 6-item derivative of the Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test, a short Mental Status Questionnaire, and a composite tool we labeled the Ottawa Mental Status Examination, which assessed orientation, memory, attention, language, and visual-constructive functioning.

Results
To obtain z and percentile scores, norms are for the different tests, computed separately for patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type, vascular dementia, or no dementia. Another set of norms is reported in which a test score is translated directly into the posttest probability of dementia. Translation formulas are given to allow the estimation of the score on one test from the result on another test.

Conclusion
The interpretation of tests used to diagnose dementia must be based on an understanding of the meaning of an individual score, which is based on the question asked and the population to which the patient is referenced.

Author Affiliations
From the Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre (Drs Meiran and Stuss) and the Departments of Medicine (Neurology) and Psychology (Dr Stuss), University of Toronto, Ontario; the Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Ottawa, Ontario (Drs Stuss, Guzman, and Willmer); the Memory Disorder Clinic, Elizabeth Bruyere Health Centre, Ottawa (Drs Guzman and Willmer); and the Department of Neuropsychology, New England Sinai Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, Stoughton, Mass (Dr Lafleche).

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