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Screen,
Inc.
206-517-5087
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 medical facilities. Such screening
offers the most economical yet valid predictive information about the
need to professionally evaluate older people for signs of Alzheimer's
disease. 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 initiate 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.
This website also
is designed for use by those interested in a semi-technical survey of
new information about resources and treatments for Mild Cognitive Impairment
and Alzheimer's disease.
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.
Our tests are designed to enhance the acquisition of intervention-related
information in the doctor's office. These tests were 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
the same hour) 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 has been studied, using a full, independent
neuropsychological evaluation as the criterion standard.
If you wish to see
a multimedia presentation about our 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 most often, although not necessarily, in a transitional
phase between normal brain functioning and Alzheimer's. 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.
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