IADR Abstract Archives
Prosthesis Presentation Test [PPT] for Screening Cognitive Impairment in Elders
Objectives: To validate a novel screening test for cognitive impairment in elders rehabilitated with a removable prosthesis.
Methods: This study received ethics approval. Hospitalized elders rehabilitated with a removable dental prosthesis, in either/both jaws, were recruited. All participants were examined intraorally. Participants were requested to remove their prostheses before clinical examination. After a pause, the prostheses were presented in an incorrect and inverted orientation. Participants were expected to correct the orientation of the prostheses and insert them correctly in the appropriate jaw, unaided. The test was repeated again after completing the intraoral exam. Statistical models (alpha=0.05) were applied to associate the results of the prosthesis presentation test (PPT) with the participants’ mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score, functional independence measure (FIM), age, and sex.
Results: 86 hospitalized elders (mean-age: 85.4±6.4 years) participated. Mean plaque-, maxillary- and mandibular- denture calculus scores were 1.96±0.8, 2.01±0.9, and 1.92±1.0, respectively. The average period of edentulism for the maxilla and mandible was 10.6±14.5 and 8.8±12.7 years, respectively. Mean MMSE and FIM scores were 19.8±5.5 and 77.9±20.8, respectively.
25.6% of the participants failed to correctly insert the prosthesis in their mouths. The test was associated to FIM (p=0.002) but not MMSE(p=0.097) . Regression models further confirmed an association with FIM (p=0.037) and age (p=0.047), but not sex (p=0.734) or MMSE (p=0.193).
Conclusions: The PPT is quick, easy to perform and unaffected by advanced age. It was associated with the FIM, a global physical and mental function test, but not with the cognitive domains of the MMSE. This suggests that the PPT more closely reflects deficits in executive function than changes in memory and orientation and may be a useful addition to the MMSE. Further studies exploring the relationship between PPT and screening tests for frontal deficits are needed to confirm this finding.
Methods: This study received ethics approval. Hospitalized elders rehabilitated with a removable dental prosthesis, in either/both jaws, were recruited. All participants were examined intraorally. Participants were requested to remove their prostheses before clinical examination. After a pause, the prostheses were presented in an incorrect and inverted orientation. Participants were expected to correct the orientation of the prostheses and insert them correctly in the appropriate jaw, unaided. The test was repeated again after completing the intraoral exam. Statistical models (alpha=0.05) were applied to associate the results of the prosthesis presentation test (PPT) with the participants’ mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score, functional independence measure (FIM), age, and sex.
Results: 86 hospitalized elders (mean-age: 85.4±6.4 years) participated. Mean plaque-, maxillary- and mandibular- denture calculus scores were 1.96±0.8, 2.01±0.9, and 1.92±1.0, respectively. The average period of edentulism for the maxilla and mandible was 10.6±14.5 and 8.8±12.7 years, respectively. Mean MMSE and FIM scores were 19.8±5.5 and 77.9±20.8, respectively.
25.6% of the participants failed to correctly insert the prosthesis in their mouths. The test was associated to FIM (p=0.002) but not MMSE(p=0.097) . Regression models further confirmed an association with FIM (p=0.037) and age (p=0.047), but not sex (p=0.734) or MMSE (p=0.193).
Conclusions: The PPT is quick, easy to perform and unaffected by advanced age. It was associated with the FIM, a global physical and mental function test, but not with the cognitive domains of the MMSE. This suggests that the PPT more closely reflects deficits in executive function than changes in memory and orientation and may be a useful addition to the MMSE. Further studies exploring the relationship between PPT and screening tests for frontal deficits are needed to confirm this finding.