Education bias in typical brief cognitive tests used for the detection of dementia in elderly population with low educational level: a critical review

• Published in: Applied neuropsychology. Adult 2022-12, Vol.ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), p.1-9
• Main Authors: Ramos-Henderson, Miguel, Calderón, Carlos, Domic-Siede, Marcos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brief Cognitive Tests (BCTs); Dementia; diagnosis; education bias; psychometry
• ISSN: 2327-9095; 2327-9109
• DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2022.2155521

Dementia is a significant decline in cognition that interfere with independent, daily functioning. Dementia is a syndrome caused by a myriad and include primary neurologic, neuropsychiatric, and medical conditions. It has been projected that the prevalence of dementia will triple in the elderly population by the year 2050. Despite the benefits of early diagnosis, there is an effective under-detection of around 62% of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. One of the factors associated with this problem is that diagnostic techniques are affected by the educational level of those evaluated. This is an important aspect to consider in the use of brief cognitive tests for the detection of dementia. This review presents and critically analyzes the available evidence regarding the effect of educational level on the diagnostic utility of three of the most widely used tools in the clinical setting: the Mini-mental Test Examination (MMSE), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE). Previous evidence shows that the tasks that require reading, writing, calculation, phonological fluency, and visuoconstruction are affected by educational level. These results lead to discourage the use of these tests in older people with less than 6 years of schooling. The development of brief cognitive tests appropriate for people with a low educational level is recommended. We posit that adequate cognitive tests should not consider tasks or items that resemble characteristics of academic contexts and should be more analogous to daily activities situations.