Validity study of the Turkish version of the Mini-Addenbrooke's cognitive examination in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

The Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (M-ACE) is an easy-to-administer and quick screening test that assesses four basic cognitive areas, namely orientation, verbal fluency, memory, and visuospatial abilities, out of 30 points. The objective of this study is to introduce M-ACE to the Turkish cognitive science literature and evaluate its applicability in Turkish society in comparison with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

A total of 90 native Turkish speakers aged 60 and over with at least 12 years of formal education, including 30 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI group), 30 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD group), and 30 healty control subjects (control group), who applied to the neurology outpatient clinic between November 2020 and November 2021, were included in this prospective study. All participants were underwent MMSE and the Turkish version of M-ACE by experienced neurologists.

The optimal M-ACE cut-off values were 24.5 for differentiating MCI from controls (90% sensitivity, 73% specificity), 23.5 for distinguishing AD from controls (97% sensitivity, 90% specificity), and 19.5 for differentiating MCI from AD (70% sensitivity, 80% specificity).

Turkish version of the M-ACE is a valid tool for assessing cognitive impairments in the elderly population.