Visual association memory test in differentiating early stage of Alzheimer's disease from vascular dementia

Acta Neurol Taiwan. 2006 Jun;15(2):98-104.

Abstract

We studied the results of the Visual Association Memory Test (VAMT) in differentiating Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). In addition, other basic neuropsychological tests, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) were also used. Generally, with the VAMT, AD patients had a worse performance than VaD patients. Particularly among patients with a CDR = 0.5, the AD patients had statistically significantly lower VAMT scores (score less than 3) (p = 0.026) compared to those of VaD patients. However, the VAMT could not predict clinical severity or disease progression. The VAMT, as revealed in this study, is a brief, simply administered, and less biased test, and may offer a diagnostic adjunct to differentiate AD from VaD especially in an early dementia state.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis*
  • Dementia, Vascular / diagnosis*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory*
  • Mental Status Schedule
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Sensitivity and Specificity