The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Early detection of patients with Alzheimer's disease with the Benton Visual Form Discrimination Test
Language	J
AuthorList	Mari Sato, Kenichi Meguro, Junichi Ishizaki, Hiroshi Ishii, Atsushi Yamadori
Affiliation	Section of Neuropsychology, Division of Disability Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 17 (1), 62-68, 2001
Received	May 1, 2000
Accepted	Sep 28, 2000
Abstract	Background. The Benton Visual Form Discrimination test (VFD) is a 16-item multiple-choice measure requiring complex visual discrimination and matching. We studied an availability of early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with the VFD. Methods. The participants were 18 normal elderly subjects (Clinical Dementia Rating; CDR 0), 14 patients with very mild AD (CDR 0.5), and 21 patients with mild & moderate AD (CDR 1 & 2). We excluded patients with cerebrovascular disorders by CT and MRI. The subjects were evaluated with the VFD and other neuropsychological tests (i.e., digit span, repetition and recall of the names of three objects, and the Rey Complex Figure Test). We analyzed our data according to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results. Correct responses of the VFD in the CDR 0.5 group were significantly lower than those of the CDR 0 group (p<0.01). Significant positive correlation was found between the scores on the VFD and copy of the Rey Complex Figure Test in the CDR 0 group, while no such correlation was found in the CDR 0.5 group. Conclusions. This study suggests that the VFD is available to detect the early stage of AD.
Keywords	Benton Visual Form Discrimination test, Alzheimer's disease, Clinical Dementia Rating