Cognitive Tests to Detect Dementia

Dementia is a global public health problem. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is a proprietary instrument for detecting dementia, but many other tests are also available.

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of all cognitive tests for the detection of dementia. DATA SOURCES: Literature searches were performed on the list of dementia screening tests in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychoINFO from the earliest available dates stated in the individual databases until September 1, 2014. Because Google Scholar searches literature with a combined ranking algorithm on citation counts and keywords in each article, our literature search was extended to Google Scholar with individual test names and dementia screening as a supplementary search. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were eligible if participants were interviewed face to face with respective screening tests, and findings were compared with criterion standard diagnostic criteria for dementia. Bivariate random-effects models were used, and the area under the summary receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to present the overall performance. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were the main outcomes.