Ecological assessment of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease using the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test

Abstract Introduction The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) is a short, ecologically valid memory test battery that can provide data about a subject's memory function in daily life. We used RBMT to examine daily memory function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer disease (AD), and in healthy controls. We also evaluated differences between the memory profiles of subjects whose MCI remained stable after 1 year and those with conversion to AD. Patients and methods Sample of 91 subjects older than 60 years: 30 controls, 27 MCI subjects and 34 AD patients. Subjects were assessed using MMSE and RBMT. Results The 40 men and 51 women in the sample had a mean age of 74.29 ± 6.71 and 5.87 ± 2.93 years of education. For the total profile, screening RBMT scores ( P P P P P P P Conclusions RBMT is an ecologically valid episodic memory test that can be used to differentiate between controls, MCI subjects, and AD subjects. It can also be used to detect patients with MCI who will experience progression to AD.