Objective: To establish a Chinese T-score norm of neuropsychological test battery for the elderly (NTBE).
Methods: 903 normal elderly people over 60 years old from Shanghai, Beijing, Hebei, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Shandong and Liaoning were evaluated by using NTBE which includes tests of auditory verbal learning, sorting, cancellation, language, motor, visual function, construction, trail making 1 and 2, etc.
Results: Age and education greatly affected the score of NTBE, but gender did not. Based on these facts, the 903 normal subjects were divided into 12 subgroups, according to the age and the years of education they had received. The raw scores of NTBE were transformed to standard score and normalized standard score, and then these scores were transformed to a total T score (Mean = 100, SD = 10). Using another normal elderly sample (n = 474) to analysis, the correlation between the raw scores and the total T score was significant. Using NTBE to diagnose 110 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 63 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, the sensitivity and specificity were 66% and 91% for MCI, and 79% and 96% for AD.
Conclusion: The T norm of the NTBE is suitable for Chinese elderly, and can be a useful instrument for diagnosing mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.