Syndrom-Kurztest (SKT) total score

Method

Total score on the Syndrom-Kurztest short cognitive performance test, a nine-subtest battery of timed naming, recall and interference tasks whose speed and error subscores combine to a total ranging 0 to 27, administered in mild cognitive impairment and dementia populations.

The method is part of the endpoint identity. Studies measuring the same quantity by a different method are held as separate endpoints.

Notes

SIGN INVERSION HAZARD against every MMSE-type or MoCA-type cognitive score reported in the same reviews: this instrument is scored so that DECREASES MEAN BETTER COGNITION - the Cochrane review states it in as many words - while MMSE, MoCA and most cognitive batteries improve by RISING. This is the highest-risk sign in the cognition set precisely because the label cognitive performance implies the opposite polarity to a reader. Distinct also from CAT:outcome/working-memory and CAT:outcome/sustained-attention, which are single-domain task scores rather than a global dementia battery, and from ADAS-Cog, which shares the falling-is-better convention but a different range and population.