Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination: longitudinal cohort testing for the early detection of dementia conversion

BACKGROUND: Significant cognitive changes as individuals’ age are not being identified in a timely manner, delaying diagnosis and treatments. Use of brief, multi-domain, self-administered, objective cognitive assessment tools may remove some barriers in assessing and identifying cognitive changes. We compared longitudinal Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) test scores to non-self-administered Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in 5 different diagnostic subgroups. METHODS: A cohort study evaluating annual rates of change was performed on 665 consecutive patients from Ohio State University Memory Disorders Clinic. Patients with at least two visits 6 months apart evaluated with SAGE and MMSE and classified according to standard clinical criteria as subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia were included. The pattern of change in SAGE scores was compared to MMSE. One way and repeated measures ANOVA and linear regression models were used. RESULTS: Four hundred twenty-four individuals (40 SCD, 94 MCI non-converters to dementia, 70 MCI converters to dementia (49 to AD dementia and 21 to non-AD dementia), 220 AD dementia) met inclusion criteria. SAGE and MMSE scores declined respectively at annual rates of 1.91 points/year (p < 0.0001) and 1.68 points/year (p < 0.0001) for MCI converters to AD dementia, and 1.82 points/year (p < 0.0001) and 2.38 points/year (p < 0.0001) for AD dementia subjects. SAGE and MMSE scores remained stable for SCD and MCI non-converters. Statistically significant decline from baseline scores in SAGE occurred at least 6 months earlier than MMSE for MCI converters to AD dementia (14.4 vs. 20.4 months), MCI converters to non-AD dementia (14.4 vs. 32.9 months), and AD dementia individuals (8.3 vs. 14.4 months). CONCLUSIONS: SAGE detects MCI conversion to dementia at least 6 months sooner than MMSE. Being self-administered, SAGE also addresses a critical need of removing some barriers in performing cognitive assessments. Limitations of our single-site cohort study include potential referral and sampling biases. Repetitively administering SAGE and identifying stability or decline may provide clinicians with an objective cognitive biomarker impacting evaluation and management choices.