Utility of the Malayalam translation of the 7- minute screen for Alzheimer's disease risk in an Indian community.

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is suspected to be currently under-diagnosed in India, thus the need for a brief, effective screening test for the condition. AIMS We aimed to test the Malayalam translation of the 7-Minute Screen (7MS) for detecting those at high risk for AD and to report on the subscores used to derive the Alzheimer's risk score. SETTING AND DESIGN This study was performed in Kerala State amongst young university students and elders in residential care homes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and eighty-two volunteers were tested, 178 young controls (aged 20-29) and 104 literate elders, (55-92 years). None were clinically diagnosed with AD. STATISTICAL ANALYSES Elders and controls were assessed as High or Low AD Risk with the published 7MS algorithm. Performance was compared between groups with ANOVA. RESULTS The algorithm estimated high (n=61/104) or low (n=40/104) AD risk in the elderly. Significant differences were found between controls, low- and high-risk groups on all four components of the screen (Orientation: F=131.1, Enhanced Cued Recall: F=23.4, Clock Drawing: F=65.1, Verbal Fluency: F=15.7, P<0.0001 for all) and in the risk scores (F=144.7, P<0.0001). Age and gender affected verbal fluency, orientation and clock drawing performance. The high-risk group had worse scores for orientation and better scores for memory than previously reported for AD cases in other populations. CONCLUSIONS The 7MS may be a useful screening test for cognitive impairment in India. Suggestions are given for revising the 'risk algorithm' for more appropriate AD risk assessment in this population.