Can Patients Test Their Own Memory?

The “test your memory” assessment tool (TYM) is a self-administered screening device, consisting of 10 items on a double-sided card, that patients can complete in the waiting room under a receptionist's supervision. To provide initial validation of the TYM, researchers administered the test, before initial clinical evaluation, to 139 successive patients referred to a memory clinic, of whom 108 were subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer disease (AD), and to 540 control participants (primarily, relatives of the patients). The memory-clinic group also completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The authors state that the TYM is potentially important because no current screening instruments meet the following three criteria: (1) require…