Development of a brief neurocognitive test battery to differentiate alzheimer's dementia and late life depression

The need for comprehensive and time-consuming neuropsychological assessments in the differential diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's dementia and late-life depression poses a significant challenge for both elderly individuals and practitioners. This study is a pilot study and aims to provide a rapid screening by creating a relatively shorter neurocognitive assessment protocol than the tests that have been found to differentiate Alzheimer's dementia and late-life depression in the literature. For this purpose, data were collected from participants aged 60-79 years with Alzheimer's dementia (n=15), healthy control group (n=15) and participants diagnosed with late onset late life depression (n=2) living in Istanbul. In the first stage, Geriatric Depression Scale, Mini Mental State Examination, Wechsler Knowledge and Orientation Subtest, Digit Span Forward tests were administered to the participants. In the second stage, the Istanbul Short Neurocognitive Test Battery, which includes Logical Memory Test, Rey Complex Figure Test, Öktem Verbal Memory Processes Test Short Form, Boston Naming Test Short Form, Verbal Fluency Tests, Similarities Test Short Form, was administered. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS 29.0 program. After evaluating the normal distribution with the Shapiro-Wilk Test, comparisons were made between groups with the Independent Sample T-Test and Mann-Whitney U Test, and ANCOVA and Quade Test were applied to control for age and education. The results showed that there were significant differences in all subcomponents of the Istanbul Brief Neurocognitive Test Battery (p<0.05), and that these differences showed large to very large effect sizes. In addition, participants diagnosed with depression were evaluated individually on their z scores. Moreover, a similar pattern is found in the literature for depression in advanced age, indicating that the Istanbul Brief Neurocognitive Test Battery has a significant potential to differentiate between early-stage Alzheimer's dementia and late-life depression. The findings indicating that it can be used as a rapid, economical and reliable screening method in clinical applications suggest that the developed short protocol may be functional not only in differential diagnosis but also in evaluating the general cognitive status in the follow-up of the disease. In this respect, the study may provide a basis for further research and applications by contributing to both differential diagnosis and individualized treatment plans.