Carnero-Pardo, CristobalGurpegui, ManuelSanchez-Cantalejo, EmilioFrank, AnaMola, SantiagoBarquero, M SagrarioMontoro-Rios, M Teresa2012-11-232012-11-232006-04-10Carnero-Pardo C, Gurpegui M, Sanchez-Cantalejo E, Frank A, Mola S, Barquero NS et al. Diagnostic accuracy of the Eurotest for dementia: a naturalistic, multicenter phase II study. BMC Neurol. 2006 Apr 10;6:15.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/655Clinical Trial, Phase II; Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Validation Studies;BACKGROUND Available screening tests for dementia are of limited usefulness because they are influenced by the patient's culture and educational level. The Eurotest, an instrument based on the knowledge and handling of money, was designed to overcome these limitations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Eurotest in identifying dementia in customary clinical practice. METHODS A cross-sectional, multi-center, naturalistic phase II study was conducted. The Eurotest was administered to consecutive patients, older than 60 years, in general neurology clinics. The patients' condition was classified as dementia or no dementia according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. We calculated sensitivity (Sn), specificity (Sp) and area under the ROC curves (aROC) with 95% confidence intervals. The influence of social and educational factors on scores was evaluated with multiple linear regression analysis, and the influence of these factors on diagnostic accuracy was evaluated with logistic regression. RESULTS Sixteen neurologists recruited a total of 516 participants: 101 with dementia, 380 without dementia, and 35 who were excluded. Of the 481 participants who took the Eurotest, 38.7% were totally or functionally illiterate and 45.5% had received no formal education. Mean time needed to administer the test was 8.2+/-2.0 minutes. The best cut-off point was 20/21, with Sn = 0.91 (0.84-0.96), Sp = 0.82 (0.77-0.85), and aROC = 0.93 (0.91-0.95). Neither the scores on the Eurotest nor its diagnostic accuracy were influenced by social or educational factors. CONCLUSION This naturalistic and pragmatic study shows that the Eurotest is a rapid, simple and useful screening instrument, which is free from educational influences, and has appropriate internal and external validity.enAncianoAnciano de 80 o más AñosEstudios TransversalesDemenciaEscolaridadEuropa (Continente)FemeninoAdministración FinancieraHumanosModelos LogísticosMasculinoMediana EdadPruebas PsicológicasCurva ROCReproducibilidad de ResultadosSensibilidad y EspecificidadMedical Subject Headings::Named Groups::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Aged::Aged, 80 and overMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cross-Sectional StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Nervous System Diseases::Central Nervous System Diseases::Brain Diseases::DementiaMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Population Characteristics::Socioeconomic Factors::Educational StatusMedical Subject Headings::Geographicals::Geographic Locations::EuropeMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::FemaleMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Care Economics and Organizations::Economics::Financial ManagementMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Models, Statistical::Logistic ModelsMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::MaleMedical Subject Headings::Named Groups::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Middle AgedMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Behavioral Disciplines and Activities::Psychological TestsMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Sensitivity and Specificity::ROC CurveMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Evaluation Studies as TopicMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Sensitivity and SpecificityMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Population Characteristics::Socioeconomic FactorsMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::Femaleresearch article16606455open access10.1186/1471-2377-6-151471-2377PMC1459198