The key to effective Alzheimer’s treatment
Early detection is key to more effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of cognitive impairment, and new research shows that a test developed at the University of Tennessee (UT) is more than 95% effective in detecting cognitive abnormalities associated with these diseases.
The test, called CST (computerized self test) was designed to be both effective and relatively simple for medical professionals to administer and for patients to take.
Rex Cannon, an adjunct research assistant professor of psychology at UT Knoxville, and Dr John Dougherty, an associate professor in the UT Graduate School of Medicine, worked with a team of researchers to develop CST.
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.
The CST is a brief, interactive online test that works to assess various impairments in functional cognitive domains – in essence, it’s a “fitness test” of sorts for the basic functions of thinking and processing information that are affected by Alzheimer’s and milder forms of cognitive impairment.
Their research, published in the April issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and in an early online edition of the journal, showed that the CST was substantially more effective and more accurate in detecting the presence of Alzheimer’s and other forms of cognitive impairment in patients than other existing tests.
The CST had a 96% accuracy rate compared to 71% and 69% for the tests that are currently in use.
