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Updated: Jun 4, 2026
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Published on: April 23, 2014
Retrospective validation of SATURN, a public domain self-administered cognitive screening test
Katrina Ang Pasao1, Maria Noelle Florendo1, David Bissig1
1Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States.
Introduction:
Mild cognitive impairment and dementia are often underdiagnosed. Self-Administered Tasks Uncovering Risk of Neurodegeneration (SATURN) is a public domain computerized cognitive screening test developed to address that need. We describe its performance in regular clinical use.
Methods:
We retrospectively compared scores of SATURN with those from paper-and-pencil screening instruments-the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS), and the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ)-and calculated receiver operating characteristic curves relating each to clinician diagnosis.
Results:
SATURN was strongly correlated with MoCA (r = 0.82), MMSE (r = 0.76), SLUMS (r = 0.81) and inversely correlated with FAQ (r = -0.55). SATURN demonstrated the best area under the curve (0.95) for distinguishing cognitively normal from cognitively impaired patients and ranked higher at distinguishing individuals with dementia and individuals without dementia (SLUMS > SATURN > MoCA = MMSE > FAQ).
Discussion:
SATURN compared favorably compared with established cognitive screening instruments in regular clinical practice.
