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Brief Cognitive Assessment Tool (BCAT)

Posted about 12 years ago by Elaine Crain

Dear Colleagues

I wanted to share with you information about a new cognitive screening instrument, the BRIEF COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT TOOL (BCAT).

My colleague Bill Mansbach has been developing the BCAT for the past five years and it has undergone rigorous psychometric tests. It is now being used by mental health providers, primary care practitioners, rehab therapists and especially psychologists. The psychometric study for the measure is in the JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY and is likely available electronically now with the print version available very soon.

The BCAT was designed to correct many of the problems with the MMSE and other cognitive screening tools. It is particularly effective in long-term care settings. It has high sensitivity (.99), positive predictive value (.91), and negative predictive value (.96), It can be administered in 10-15 minutes and effectively differentiates between MCI and dementia. It also can predict functional status (IADL) and places strong emphasis on three neuro-cognitive clusters: contextual memory, executive functioning, and attentional capacity.

The BCAT is supported by a free website, www.thebcat.com<http://www.thebcat.com>, where you can download the test . I have been using it as my cognitive screening measure for many of my initial evaluations of patients and find it very useful. I suggest you take a look at it!

Thanks,

Susan Kraus, MA, MSN, CRNP
MedOptions
901 Dulaney Valley Road, Suite 129
Towson, MD 21204
C: 443-465-4592
W: 410-832-2729
F: 410-832-5783


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