DemTect-B: A Parallel Test Version to the Cognitive Screening Instrument DemTect-A®

Background: Cognitive screening methods are useful, although non-exclusive instruments in dementia diagnosis. One such screening is the DemTect-A (R). which was introduced in Germany in 2000 and has since found widespread use. In the form of the DemTect-B an equivalent test for the Dem-Tect-A (R) is presented. Due to its identical level of difficulty. the DemTect-B is also suitable for follow-up investigations. No other screening test in German-speaking countries has a parallel version. German-speaking countries has a parallel version. Methods: 80 control subjects with a mean age of 65 years (SD = 0.83, 46 women, 34 men) participated in the investigation. To test for equivalence, Dem-Tect-A (R) and DemTect-B were offered in randomised order. With all the control subjects, the CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale) has been carried out to exclude cognitive impairment. The structure of the DemTect-B is nearly identical to that of the DemTect, only the semantic fluency task supermarket has been replaced with an animal naming task in the B version. For this task, a separate conversion had to be calculated. Upon completion of this transformation, the total test values did not differ on a statistically significant level. Conclusion: The DemTect-B is a replication of the DemTect-A and both can be mutually interchanged. It is applied especially in the course of examinations and is a useful tool to identify even patients with mild dementia and mild cognitive impairment.