Test validity of verbal fluency and visuomotor processing speed in differentiating Alzheimer’s disease from vascular dementia in Singapore samples.

• Main Author: Teo, Puay Liang.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Psychological testing
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39875
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia are the two most common types of dementia in Singapore and their numbers are set to rise with increased life expectancy. Early and accurate diagnosis can possibly lead to better prognosis for the patients. This study attempts to differentiate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from vascular dementia (VaD) based on their cognitive profile obtained from neuropsychological assessment scores in language and visuomotor processing speed domains. Results showed a strong tendency for AD (n = 39) to perform worse than VaD (n = 15) in the language domain for a verbal fluency task in the animal category. Digit cancellation and symbol digit modalities, tasks that evaluate executive function and processing speed, were found to differentiate VaD from AD.