Abstract:Objectives: To evaluate the value of similarities test (ST) in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: One hundred and twenty-five patients with amnestic MCI-single domain (aMCI-SD), 160 patients with amnestic MCI-multiple domain (aMCI-MD), 139 AD patients, and 132 normal controls were all evaluated by a complete set of neuropsychological tests including ST. Among these tests, Mini-Mental State Examination and Auditory-Verbal Learning Test were used for preliminary screening, and further evaluation and examination were carried out according to the screening results.. The similarities test consisted of 13 items, and each item was scored at three levels: 0, 1 and 2, with a maximum score of 26. Results: The total scores of the four groups were then compared, and the results showed that there were significant differences (r = 0.15-0.47, P <0.01). ST scores were found to have a significant correlation with the scores of tests reflecting language function such as Animal Fluency Test and Boston Naming Test. The area under the ROC curve of ST score (total score: 26; cut-off score: 12) for the diagnosis of AD was 0.881 (95% confidence interval: 0.842-0.920, P <0.01). Conclusion: ST with 13 items can be used to test language-related cognitive function and is effective for identifying aMCI-SD, aMCI-MD, and AD patients.
