Introduction
Mr. W was referred for an evaluation, and the current outcomes provide a few important details. Firstly, one should draw attention to the fact that the diagnosis of dementia was made in 2011, and the patient did not experience any evident symptoms of the condition for the next three years. Secondly, a decent medication list is also significant because drugs can significantly affect Mr. W’s cognitive functions. Thirdly, specific test results also indicate that dementia may not be an appropriate diagnosis for the patient. In particular, Mr. W was fully oriented and could provide specific details of his life. The patient’s speech was also fluent, while most tests of sustained attention showed normal results. However, the area of complex visuospatial processing was a weakness. This information demonstrates that dementia may not be the case for Mr. W, but it is reasonable to administer additional assessment instruments to ensure whether the patient has this condition.
Discussion
The Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT-4) is the first suggested instrument. According to Carpenter et al. (2019), it is an effective tool to diagnose dementia because its positive likelihood ratio was assessed as 7.69 at a 95% confidence interval. This data demonstrates that if a person has dementia, the selected instrument offers a high probability of identifying this diagnosis. It is possible to state that the tool is ethical because it does not subject individuals to harmful effects and is appropriate for professionals since it usually takes five minutes to administer the test (Carpenter et al., 2019). In addition to that, it is worth admitting that the instrument’s reliability was assessed as 0.90, while the validity was close to 0.75 (Tanglakmankhong et al., 2021). These figures demonstrate that AMT-4 can be applied to assess Mr. W’s conditions.
Simultaneously, the Brief Alzheimer’s Screen can be used to conclude that the patient does not have dementia. Carpenter et al. (2019) stipulate that this instrument has the lowest likelihood ratio of diagnosing a patient with this condition when it is absent. It is possible to claim that the given instrument offers high validity scores because its sensitivity is estimated at 95% (Carpenter et al., 2019). As for reliability, it is challenging to find the specific statistical value of this construct, but it is possible to expect good results. The rationale behind this statement is that the test only includes five activities that ask a patient to say the current data, remember words, spell a word backward, and others. It is possible to expect that the results can be reproduced under the same conditions. The description above also demonstrates that no ethical issues are present, and professionals can easily implement the instrument.
Conclusion
Finally, the Clock Drawing Test can be used to assess Mr. W’s conditions. This brief neuropsychological test is requested because it is an effective screening instrument to diagnose dementia on its own or as part of a test battery (Hwang et al., 2019). The given tool offers a few advantages since it is free of charge and easy to administer (Hwang et al., 2019). According to Emek-Savaş et al. (2018), the test reliability can be assessed as 0.72-0.98. Approximately the same figures describe the instrument’s validity, and Emek-Savaş et al. (2018) state that this phenomenon can be estimated at 0.72-0.92. Numerous articles confirm the fact that the selected tool is professional and ethical (Hwang et al., 2019; Emek-Savaş et al., 2018). Consequently, it is reasonable to use the three instruments to assess Mr. W and make a final diagnosis.
References
Carpenter, C. R., Banerjee, J., Keyes, D., Eagles, D., Schnitker, L., Barbic, D., Fowler, S., & LaMantia, M. A. (2019). Accuracy of dementia screening instruments in emergency medicine: A diagnostic meta‐analysis. Academic Emergency Medicine, 26(2), 226-245. Web.
Emek-Savaş, D. D., Yerlikaya, D., & Yener, G. G. (2018). Validity, reliability and Turkish norm values of the clock drawing test for two different scoring systems. Turkish Journal of Neurology, 24(2), 143-52. Web.
Hwang, A. B., Boes, S., Nyffeler, T., & Schuepfer, G. (2019). Validity of screening instruments for the detection of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in hospital inpatients: A systematic review of diagnostic accuracy studies. PloS ONE, 14(7), e0219569. Web.
Tanglakmankhong, K., Hampstead, B. M., Ploutz-Snyder, R. J., & Potempa, K. (2021). Cognitive screening assessment in Thai older adults: A prospective study of the reliability and validity of the Abbreviated Mental Test. Journal of Health Research, 36(1), 99-109. Web.