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RehabMeasures Instrument

Short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test of Cognitive Impairment

Purpose

The OMCT is a 6-item measure of cognitive impairment based on the Blessed Test.

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Instrument Details

Acronym OMCT

Area of Assessment

Attention & Working Memory
Cognition
Executive Functioning
Reasoning/Problem Solving

Assessment Type

Patient Reported Outcomes

Administration Mode

Paper & Pencil

Cost

Free

Key Descriptions

  • A short assessment of cognitive ability composed of 6 items.
  • The clinician reads the following directions to patients:
    "Now I would like to ask you some questions to check your memory and concentration. Some of the questions may be easy and some of them may be hard, but please try to answer them all."
  • Scoring:
    0 - 8: Normal-minimum impairment
    9 - 19: Minimal to Moderate impairment
    20 - 28: Severe impairment

    A score from 0 - 8 is within normal limits.

Number of Items

6

Time to Administer

5-10 minutes

Required Training

No Training

Age Ranges

Adult

18 - 64

years

Elderly Adult

65 +

years

ICF Domain

Body Function

Measurement Domain

Cognition

Considerations

Considerations: (Parker & Philp, 2004)

  • OMC scores are related to level of educational attainment
  • Specificity in African American groups has been reported to be low
  • The OMC seems to assess changes in verbal memory

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Alzheimer's Disease and Progressive Dementia

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Cut-Off Scores

Alzheimer's Disease: (Davous et al, 1987; n = 133; mean age = 64.5 (range = 37 to 91) years; multiple diagnosis)

  • >10 indicates cognitive impairment

  • Sensitivity = 88%
  • Specificity = 94%
  • False positive = 11%
  • False negative = 5%

Normative Data

Alzheimer's Disease: (Davous et al, 1987) 

Diagnosis

n

M/F

Age (yr)

OMCT

MSQ

MMSE

Control

23

8/15

75.9 (10.7)

3.9 (3.1)

9.7 (0.4)

27.2 (1.7)

Neurological

33

17/16

64.5 (13.2)

2.6 (2)

9.8 (0.3)

27.5 (1.8)

Dementia

44

18/26

73.9 (8.7)

19 (7.1)*

5.5 (2.6)*

14.6 (6.2)*

*p < 0.001

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMCT = Katzman's short Orientation Memory Concentration Test

MSQ = Mental Status Questionnaire

MMSE = Mini Mental State Examination

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test/Retest Reliability

Alzheimer's: (Fuld, 1978; n = 18 patients)

  • Retesting 3 weeks after the initial assessment resulted in a score within 4 points of the original score.

Criterion Validity (Predictive/Concurrent)

Alzheimer's Disease: (Davous et al, 1987)

  • OMCT appeared equivalent to the Mini Mental State Examination in identifying dementia

Construct Validity

Alzheimer's: (Davous et al, 1987; n =  21 patients during the same week as the mental status evaluation by a trained psychologist blind to OMCT results)

  • Adequate: Wechsler Memory Scale (Pearson r = - 0.562, p < 0.01)
  • Adequate: Progressive Matrices; Raven PM47 (Spearman r = 0.590, p < 0.01)

Non-Specific Patient Population

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Minimal Detectable Change (MDC)

Various Neurological Diseases: (Wade & Vergis, 1998; n = 38; mean age = 47.1 (11.4) years)

  • improvement greater than 6 points were found to indicate a real improvement in memory
  • deterioration of more than 2 points represented real declines

Criterion Validity (Predictive/Concurrent)

Nursing home patients: (Katzman 1983; n = 170, demographic details not indicated)

  • Excellent correlations with the full Blessed test (r = 0.941)
  • In a separate sample composed of patients suffering from dementia; 81 % of the population had scores within +/- 4 of total Blessed scores

Construct Validity

Various Neurological Diseases: (Wade & Vergis, 1998)

  • No clinically significant differences between OMC scores and Barthel ADL scores (Pearson’s r = 0.23)

Content Validity

Stepwise regression of the 26 item Blessed measure revealed 5 items with high item-total correlations. These items were then used to create the final 6 item measure.

Bibliography

Davous, P., Lamour, Y., et al. (1987). "A comparative evaluation of the short orientation memory concentration test of cognitive impairment." J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 50(10): 1312-1317. 

Fuld, P. (1978). "Psychological testing in the differential diagnosis of the dementias." Alzheimer’s disease: senile dementia and related disorders 7.

Katzman, R., Brown, T., et al. (1983). "Validation of a short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test of cognitive impairment." Am J Psychiatry 140(6): 734-739. 

Parker, C. and Philp, I. (2004). "Screening for cognitive impairment among older people in black and minority ethnic groups." Age Ageing 33(5): 447-452. 

Wade, D. T. and Vergis, E. (1999). "The Short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test: a study of its reliability and validity." Clin Rehabil 13(2): 164-170.