Interactive Online Test Helps Detect Alzheimer's Disease Early

A new test is more than 95% effective in detecting abnormalities associated Alzheimer's disease and other forms of cognitive impairment.

The computerized self-test (CST) is a brief, interactive online test that works to assess various impairments in functional cognitive domains. It is a type of fitness test for the basic functions of thinking and processing information that are affected by Alzheimer's and milder forms of cognitive impairment.

The CST was designed to be both effective and relatively simple for medical professionals to administer and for patients to take. The impetus for the test came from data showing that 60% of Alzheimer's cases are not diagnosed in the primary care setting, and that those delays lead to missed treatment opportunities.

Rex Cannon, adjunct research assistant professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT Knoxville; USA) and Dr. John Dougherty, associate professor at the University of Tennessee (UT) Graduate School of Medicine (Knoxville, USA), worked with a team of scientists to develop the CST.

Prof. Cannon noted that the test could provide an objective way to determine what diseases may affect the patient and provide information to begin treatments that can blunt the effects of Alzheimer's.

Related Links:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine