Some cognitive screening tests and other scales for measuring impact of cognitive changes
| Test | Domains | Advantages | Limitations |
| MMSE | Orientation, memory, attention, calculation, language, visuoconstructive skills and writing | Widely used in clinical practice and research, and brief (not time-consuming) | Poorly sensitive to executive functions Too easy (ceiling effect) in younger patients |
| MoCA | Trail making, visuoconstructive skills, naming, memory, attention, sentence repetition, verbal fluency, abstraction and orientation | Sensitive to executive functions and brief (not time-consuming) | Too difficult in older patients (floor effect) |
| ACE-R | Orientation, attention, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuospatial ability | Less time-consuming with good accuracy for detecting dementia | Poorly sensitive to mild cognitive deficits |
| SIB | Social interaction, memory, orientation, language, attention, praxis, visuospatial ability, construction and orientation to name | Cognitive screening in patients with moderate to severe dementia | Poorly sensitive in patients who score >12 on the MMSE |
| NART | Crystalised intelligence and estimation of vocabulary size | Premorbid cognitive ability level estimation by oral reading of phonological irregular words | Only feasible for languages that include many irregular words (eg, English, French) Does not estimate current IQ |
| NPI | Severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms and impact on the caregiver | Complements cognitive tests by exploring behavioural and psychiatric features | Based on the caregiver’s report |
| BADL/IADL | Ability to perform instrumental (eg, house-keeping, shopping and using the telephone) or basic (eg, using the toilet and dressing) daily life activities | Important to assess the impact of cognitive changes | Poorly sensitive to change in the early stages of dementia |
ACE-R, Addenbrookes Cognitive Examination revised; BADL/IADL, basic and instrumental activities of daily life; MMSE, Mini-Mental state examination; MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment; NART, National Adult Reading Test; NPI, neuropsychiatric inventory; SIB, severe impairment battery.