Author(s): Swati B, Sreenivas V, Manjari T and Ashima N
Background: There is a need to develop a quick original screening test for dementia due to paucity of short, education and culture fair tests. Hence, following DSM-V criteria, a quick screening test was developed which can be used for both the clinical and prognostic purposes. Objective: Develop a quick and valid Indian screening test for geriatric population for early and timely identification of cognitive decline. Method: Total sample consisted of 150 (88=patients and 62=control) right-handed, consenting subjects between 55-84 yrs of age with minimum elementary education were recruited in the study. Results: DART scores discriminated between dementia cases and controls clearly. It was also validated against gold standard of MMSE, with sensitivity of 95.5% and specificity of 60.0%; true positive predictive value of 70.2% and true negative predictive value of 93.0%. Conclusion: DART is a quick and valid screening test for dementia for Indian population.
