The Abbreviated Mental Test score (AMTS) is a 10-point test for rapidly assessing
elderly patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
s for the possibility of
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
. It was first used in 1972,
and is now sometimes also used to assess for
mental confusion
In medicine, confusion is the quality or state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion" (including
delirium) and other
cognitive impairment
Cognitive deficit is an inclusive term to describe any characteristic that acts as a barrier to the cognition process.
The term may describe
* deficits in overall intelligence (as with intellectual disabilities),
* specific and restricted defici ...
s.
A 4-item version called the Abbreviated Mental Test - 4 (AMT4) has been developed and tested.
Questionnaire
The following questions are put to the patient. Each question correctly answered scores one point. A score of 7–8 or less suggests cognitive impairment at the time of testing,
although further and more formal tests are necessary to confirm a diagnosis of dementia, delirium or other causes of cognitive impairment. Culturally-specific questions may vary based on region.
[
]
Abbreviated Mental Test - 4 (AMT4)
The AMT4 uses 4 items from the AMTS: (i) What is your age? (ii) What is your date of birth? (iii) What is the name of this place? (iv) What is the year? A cut off score of 3/4 performs comparably to an AMTS cut-off score of 8/9.
See also
* General Practitioner Assessment Of Cognition – a brief screening tool for cognitive impairment designed for primary care
* GERRI
* Mini-mental state examination
References
Cognitive impairment and dementia screening and assessment tools
Geriatrics
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