12-item version of Boston Naming Test: usefulness in the diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

The 12-item version of the Boston Naming Test (BNT) was adapted to Argentina for the detection of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with scores similar to the original 60-item version (sensitivity and specificity of 85 and 94%, respectively) without demographic influence (age and educational level). To date, no publications on the use of abbreviated BNT in other degenerative pathologies with language impairment have been reported. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of 12-item BNT in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (FTDbv), and AD. Methods: Notably, 47 patients with probable AD (NIA-AA 2011) — clinical dementia rating (CDR) 0.5–1, 55 with FTDbv, 17 with PPA, and 46 controls were evaluated and matched for age and education. Exclusion criteria were as follows: alcoholism, other previous neurological or psychiatric illnesses, and education <4 years. All were assessed with a full neuropsychological battery and a 12-item version of BNT. Results: Median scores of 12-item BNT were as follows: PPA: 3.87 (SD=2.99), AD: 6.13 (SD=3.03); FTDbv: 8.41 (SD=2.53); and controls: 10.22 (SD=1.82). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted. Conclusions: The 12-item version of BNT can be useful, simple, and fast to identify and differentiate PPA, FTDbv, and AD from controls while retaining the discriminative ability of the original version.