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The EASI: A Self‐Administered Screening Test for Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly
Author(s) -
Horn Lucille,
Cohen Carl I.,
Teresi Jeanne
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1989.tb02265.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cognitive impairment , test (biology) , gerontology , cognition , psychiatry , paleontology , biology
The Early Assessment Self Inventory (EASI), a rapid self‐administered screening test for cognitive impairment in the elderly, was constructed to permit individuals to be assessed in a group or singly without examiner intervention. This paper‐and‐pencil device requires a fourth‐grade reading level and makes minimal demands on literacy while assessing orientation, recent and remote memory, language, visual‐construction, calculation, and attention. In the present study, the EASI was group‐administered to 146 elderly persons attending senior centers and completed individually without examiner intervention by 19 outpatients at a memory disorders clinic. Participants were 60 to 95 years old with 5 to 18 years of education. The EASI demonstrated good internal consistency and test‐retest reliability and was significantly correlated with the Mini‐Mental State Exam and the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, both widely used screening instruments. Neuropsychological measures of memory, attention, and verbal fluency correlated as well with the EASI as with the examiner‐administered screening instruments, suggesting that the EASI may provide an efficient method of screening for cognitive impairment.