Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) is a very useful tool for diagnosis of probable mild Alzheimer´s disease in a geriatric clinic

Bateria Breve de Rastreio Cognitivo (BBRC) para o diagnóstico da doença de Alzheimer leve em uma clínica geriátrica

ABSTRACT

The diagnosis of early signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major challenge in a heterogeneous population.

Objective  To investigate the use of the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BCSB) for the diagnosis of mild AD in a geriatric outpatient unit of a public hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Method  BCSB was administered to 51 elderly adults with a clinical diagnosis of probable AD and 123 older adults without dementia (non-AD).

Results  AD patients performed worse than non-AD group in all BCSB tests, except Clock Drawing (p = 0.10). The ROC curves and Logistic Regression analysis indicated that delayed recall in the figure memory test was the best predictor, screening mild AD patients with sensibility and specificity superior to 80%.

Conclusion  The BCSB was accurate in identifying people with AD in a geriatric outpatient clinic at a public hospital, including elderly people with chronic diseases, physical frailty and cognitive impairment

Alzheimer’s disease; aging; memory