SAGE: A Test to Detect Signs of Alzheimer's and Dementia

Re:SAGE: A Test to Detect Signs of Alzheimer's and Dementia by IAmGraydon on Friday November 24, 2017 @09:46AM (#15771157)

I've taken the SAGE test on several occasions, but I remember it having a section where you have to memorize 4 words early in the test and then recall them later. There was also a section where you had to name as many objects of a class that started with a particular letter as possible in a limited time (as many animals that start with the letter S as possible in 30 seconds). These two sections were the hardest by far, and seem to be removed from this version. Why is that? This version of SAGE is so easy, it seems that you would have to suffer from severe dementia to score anything less than perfect.

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Re:SAGE: A Test to Detect Signs of Alzheimer's and Dementia by d0mine on Friday November 24, 2017 @11:26AM (#15771605)

There is "I have finished/done" phrase mentioned in the middle of the test to answer later "Have you finished?"/"Are you done?" question at the end of the test (though it seems easier than memorizing 4 words compared to 3 words that form a meaningful phrase that is the answer to the immediate suggestive question).

There is a question on naming 12 different things in a kitchen/countries (also easier -- no time limit, no constraint on the first letter).

"The test has a sensitivity of 79 percent and a false positive rate of 5 percent in detecting cognitive impairment from normal subjects." btw, you don't need the perfect score to be considered "normal" by the test.

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Re:SAGE: A Test to Detect Signs of Alzheimer's and Dementia by mr_donk on Friday November 24, 2017 @02:36PM (#15772602)

I don't know about it being so easy for someone with an actual impairment...

My only experience was with my mother, who recently passed away from a stroke. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in her early 60s.

I have no trouble believing this easy test would be impossibly hard for someone with dementia, even in the early stages. At the beginning, my mom seemed fine to anyone she'd meet, yet would routinely not know what day of the week it was. She'd cover for it by saying things like "since I don't work, every day seems like Saturday". She probably would have failed the test right there.

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