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Elder Law Prof Blog
Katherine C. Pearson, Editor, and a Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network on LexBlog.com

“Testing” Capacity in the Comfort of Your Home?

By rmorgan

I was reading in the AARP blog about a short test developed by researchers at Ohio State U Wexner Medical Center that helps show potential cognitive impairments sooner.  The article about their study was published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences.  The abstract explains:

This study investigated the functionality of the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) for cognitive screening in community settings and examined its characteristics as a cognitive screening assessment tool. From 45 community events, 1,047 individuals over age 50 were screened with SAGE. Cognitive impairment was identified in 28%. Principal-component and correlation analysis indicate that SAGE is an internally-consistent test that is very well balanced, with language, cognition, visuospatial, executive, and memory domains. Community cognitive screening using SAGE was found to be feasible and efficient in diverse settings with both small and large groups.

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As I am sure you do, I teach about capacity and diminished capacity in my classes and explain the issues (ethical and legal) that flow from the lack of capacity. My students and I talk about the various tests that are administered by the medical experts to assess and diagnose a person. We also talk about the attorney’s role and the ABA Commission on Law & Aging and APA‘s Assessment of Older Adults with Diminished Capacity: A Handbook for Lawyers

The Ohio State test is known as SAGE (self-administered gerocognitive exam) which “is designed to detect early signs of cognitive, memory or thinking impairments [and] evaluates [one’s] thinking abilities and helps physicians to know how well [one’s] brain is working.”  The SAGE tests has 4 different versions (doesn’t matter which one) and there are versions in various languages.  To access the test, the user must first agree to terms and conditions.  The website advises a user that after completing the test, the user should take the answer sheet to his or her doctor who will “grade it” and interpret the results.