Screen, Inc.
1-(866)-668-9038 (TOLL FREE)
3511 46th Avenue NE
Seattle, Washington 98105
Research@AlzheimersScreen.com

This website reports on Screen's set of self-administered cognition tests, the CANS-MCI, designed to screen for Mild Cognitive Impairment* in geriatric care offices. Such screening offers the most economical yet valid predictive information about the need to professionally evaluate older people for signs of Alzheimer's disease. Unlike PET scans, Compound B, spinal taps, or genetic tests, the CANS-MCI can be used very economically to detect the very beginning of the disease process, not the propensity to eventually get the disease or the extent of the disease once it is symptomatic. The tests within the CANS-MCI are the most predictive of conversion to Alzheimer's. The CANS-MCI was developed with research support from the VA and from the National Institute on Aging, leading to journal publications. Validity results were first published as an extended article in a 2005 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.

The accurate anticipation of cognitive decline results in substantial reductions of costs, both emotional and financial, to patients, families, doctors, and retirement facilities. When better treatments emerge, a record of baseline abilities will allow doctors to perform expensive evaluations for possible treatment as soon as impairment begins, rather than waiting for more severe impairments to be evident. This is crucial because new treatments are likely to slow or stop, not reverse, cognitive decline.

A great deal of clinical information concerning Mild Cognitive Impairment* is not gathered by doctors in time to provide early decisions about diagnosis and/or treatment. These tests are designed to enhance the acquisition of intervention-related information in the doctor's office. The CANS-MCI was developed over a six year period to be objective yet fully self-administered in settings appropriate for testing, requiring a minimal amount of staff time or training. Graphical, longitudinal analyses with recommendations for professional neuropsychological evaluations are returned the same day (usually within 30 minutes) to doctors' offices where testing is performed.

Research Findings Support Screening Tests For Mild Cognitive Impairments:

Screen, Inc. presented its initial test validity results at the 8th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden. Factor analysis results were presented at the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry convention in March, 2003.
Validity results were first published as an extended article in a 2005 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests have been studied, using a full, independent neuropsychological evaluation as the criterion standard. The CANS-MCI has been very favorably compared to other test batteries in an independent study of all computerized tests and has the highest rating for validity, reliability, normative data, excellent usability, and self-explanatory excellent interface.

If you wish to see a multimedia presentation about the tests, their development, and supporting research, you may download an installer here.

* Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) refers to the set of cognitive impairments that are most predictive of Alzheimer's disease. It is beginning to also refer to the subset of brain features that are characteristic of Alzheimer's but are in between normal brains and those of Alzheimer's patients. MCI is sometimes referred to as an early stage of Alzheimer's, sometimes as a precursor. People with MCI are often, although not necessarily, in a transitional phase between normal brain functioning and Alzheimer's. The Computer-Administered Neuropsychological Screen for Mild Cognitive Impairment (the CANS-MCI) detects changes in ability, even in high functioning people, that warrant closer attention because they are the changes most predictive of further immediate decline.