The Yamaguchi fox/pigeon-imitation test, a brief cognitive performance rating tool, in a community-dwelling population: normative data for Japanese subjects – a preliminary study

Abstract

IntroductionScreening tools for dementia should be valid and easy to complete and have a low psychological burden. Consistent with these principles, the Yamaguchi fox/pigeon-imitation test (YFPIT) has been developed. However, there is little information on the utility of the YFPIT for preclinical populations, although the detection of proven prodromal and preclinical states is important.Materials and methodsWe recruited 392 volunteers who were at least 60 years old (139 men and 253 women) and had participated in the Iwaki Health Promotion Project. The YFPIT was administered to all participants.ResultsMost subjects succeeded in imitating the fox gesture regardless of their cognitive function impairment, while the success rates for the pigeon gesture were 75.3% in the normal group and 56.3% in the cognitive impairment group. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PV+), and negative predictive value (PV−) were 43.8%, 75.3%, 7.0%, and 97.0%, respectively. The greatest significant difference between the imitation of the pigeon gesture and cognitive impairment was found in females with subjective memory impairments (P=0.001). In that group, the sensitivity, specificity, PV+, and PV− were 100%, 81.9%, 18.8%, and 100%, respectively.ConclusionThis study suggests that the utility of the YFPIT is limited in the general population, but that it is a useful tool in females with subjective memory impairments in a community-dwelling population.

Clock-drawing Test and Cube-copying Test to Quickly Screen Dementia: In Combination with the Mini-mental State Examination Scores

“…Overall, the sensitivity of the pigeon finger imitation test was 44%, which was close to that reported by Ishioka et al (43.8%, n = 16). They also reported that the female dementia patient group had a significantly higher failure rate in the pigeon-finger imitation test (5), but the present results showed no statistically significant sex difference. Ishioka et al also reported that DLB had a higher success rate in the pigeon-finger imitation test than AD; however, the present study results showed that DLB had a significantly higher failure rate (p = 0.0274, Fisher's exact test).…”

“…The second limitation, as previously pointed out by Yamaguchi et al, is that the fox finger imitation test has a low sensitivity for screening dementia patients ( 4 ). To the best of my knowledge, only one study in Japan has compared the fox finger and pigeon finger imitation tests ( 5 ). In the present study, 25 of the 51 patients who underwent the fox finger imitation test also underwent the pigeon finger imitation test.…”

“…Although there have been studies examining the sensitivity and specificity of one or two screening tests, to date, no studies have examined the combined use of the four tests in the same dementia population and compared their sensitivities. We herein retrospectively examined the sensitivity of four spatial recognition and planning ability evaluation methods [finger imitation test ( 4 , 5 ), pentagon-copying test (PCT), cube-copying test (CCT) ( 6 ), and clock-drawing test (CDT) ( 7 )], along with suggested combinations of memory and language evaluation methods, namely the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) ( 8 ).…”