Sixty percent of Alzheimer's cases do not get diagnosed in primary care medical offices, which means missed opportunities to treat patients in the early stages of dementia.A new Computerized Self Test, created by researchers from the University of Tennessee, could potentially bring a simple and inexpensive testing tool to family doctors and internists.
CST is a fitness test for the brain. It's a brief, interactive online test that assesses various impairments in the basic thinking functions that are affected by cognitive impairments and dementias including Alzheimer's. Researchers say it provides an objective way to determine what diseases may affect the patient, so providers can begin treatments that could blunt the effects of the disease.
“Early detection is at the forefront of the clinical effort in Alzheimer’s research, and application of instruments like CST in the primary care setting is of extreme importance,” Rex Cannon, an assistant professor in psychology, told Tennessee Today.
His work will be published in the April 2010 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
The study, "The Computerized Self-Test--an Interactive, Internet Accessible Cognitive Screening Test for Dementia"
The story from Tennessee Today, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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