Finding symptoms early is crucial to treatment, at-home paper test can help

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) January 2014 -- Researchers have developed an at-home test that can help doctors spot early symptoms of cognitive issues in their patients, like Alzheimer's disease. Best of all, the test is cheap, self-administered, and a new study shows, can be just as effective as other costlier and more time-consuming tests.

"What we found was that this self-administered test correlated very well with more detailed cognitive testing," said Douglas Scharre, MD, who developed the test with his team at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, "The difference is, this approach simply requires a pen, paper and about 10 minutes of a patient's time," he said.

While the test does not diagnose problems like Alzheimer's, it does allow doctors to get a baseline of cognitive function in their patients, so they can screen them for any problems over time. "We can give them the test periodically and the moment we notice any changes in their cognitive abilities, we can intervene much more rapidly," said Scharre.

Doctors say early intervention is the key to good treatment outcomes. Unfortunately patients with Alzheimer's disease, for example, often wait 3-4 years after their symptoms first appear to seek treatment. "Hopefully, this test will help change those situations," said Scharre.

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