The Auditory Naming Test Improves Diagnosis of Naming Deficits in Dementia

Abstract

Many patients with presumptive Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or other dementias may show minimal impairment on the Boston Naming Test (BNT), a visual confrontation naming measure. We sought to determine whether a semantic naming test, the Auditory Naming Test (ANT), would improve accuracy for identifying naming deficits in patients diagnosed with dementia (N = 458) at an outpatient memory disorders clinic. Factor analysis revealed that both tests measured the same broad construct. Frequency of naming impairment with the ANT was significantly greater than with the BNT for patients with AD, regardless of dementia severity or levels of education (p