Screening Tools for Various Health Conditions
Added on 2023-04-12
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Running head: SCREENERS 1
SCREENING TOOLS
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
Facilitator
Course
Date
SCREENING TOOLS
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
Facilitator
Course
Date
SCREENERS 2
Screening Tools
In the context of medicine, screening refers to a strategy which is used in a given
population in order to identify or detect the presence of undiagnosed diseases which have no
symptoms in individuals. This makes screening tests anomalous in nature since they are
performed on individuals who are in good health status. Screening is usually done to identify a
certain disease in a community early enough for necessary intervention measures to be
undertaken. Various screening tools are used based on the disease being investigated. Some of
them include SLUMS, CAGE, PHQ-9, CAGE-AID, CLOCK-DRAW AND MMSE among
others. The above screening tools have been discussed and their various comparisons made based
on their usage as well as a recommendation for their improvement.
The SLUMS (“Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination”) was established by a
Director at Saint Louis University who was working at the Division of Geriatric Medicine. It is a
screening method which detects Alzheimer’s and Dementia. The people who are suspected to
have the disease are given a brief oral or written exam. SLUMS is superior to MMSE in that it is
capable of identifying very early symptoms of dementia in individuals and hence early
interventions are taken (Buckingham et al, 2013). It is also free to use and already includes
CLOCK-DRAWING in it. SLUMS generally has 11 items and involves measurement of various
cognition aspects which include geometric figures recognition, short-term memory, the test of
clock drawing, orientation, animals’ naming, and calculations. It can be administered at the
approximated time of seven minutes and its scores range from 0 to 30. If the screener is given to
two people, then judgment is made based on their scores. Scores of 27-30 indicate that a person
who has high school education is normal, 21-26 indicate that a person has a mild neurocognitive
disorder while 0-20 indicate dementia. SLUMS screener is highly reliable and valid especially
Screening Tools
In the context of medicine, screening refers to a strategy which is used in a given
population in order to identify or detect the presence of undiagnosed diseases which have no
symptoms in individuals. This makes screening tests anomalous in nature since they are
performed on individuals who are in good health status. Screening is usually done to identify a
certain disease in a community early enough for necessary intervention measures to be
undertaken. Various screening tools are used based on the disease being investigated. Some of
them include SLUMS, CAGE, PHQ-9, CAGE-AID, CLOCK-DRAW AND MMSE among
others. The above screening tools have been discussed and their various comparisons made based
on their usage as well as a recommendation for their improvement.
The SLUMS (“Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination”) was established by a
Director at Saint Louis University who was working at the Division of Geriatric Medicine. It is a
screening method which detects Alzheimer’s and Dementia. The people who are suspected to
have the disease are given a brief oral or written exam. SLUMS is superior to MMSE in that it is
capable of identifying very early symptoms of dementia in individuals and hence early
interventions are taken (Buckingham et al, 2013). It is also free to use and already includes
CLOCK-DRAWING in it. SLUMS generally has 11 items and involves measurement of various
cognition aspects which include geometric figures recognition, short-term memory, the test of
clock drawing, orientation, animals’ naming, and calculations. It can be administered at the
approximated time of seven minutes and its scores range from 0 to 30. If the screener is given to
two people, then judgment is made based on their scores. Scores of 27-30 indicate that a person
who has high school education is normal, 21-26 indicate that a person has a mild neurocognitive
disorder while 0-20 indicate dementia. SLUMS screener is highly reliable and valid especially
SCREENERS 3
for older adults and geriatric care, non-specific patient population, and population with
progressive Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. For instance, Feliciano et al 2013, found out that
excellent validity for community-dwelling elders was r=0.75 for their research while Stewart et
al, 2012 found out that validity for long-term care facility was r=0.83 for their research. SLUMS
may be improved by structuring it to sound more of medically related exercise rather than an
examination as many of those who take it feel intimidated as they have a feeling that they are
taking an exam rather than a medical exercise intended to help them.
CLOCK-DRAWING TEST was developed in the early 1900s to investigate the mental
capability of soldiers who had head injuries. It is used to identify people who may have
neurological problems (for example Dementia and Alzheimer among others) (Ehreke et al,
2010). For more accurate results, it is used with other screening tools such as SLUMS but it can
also be used independently. A person under clock drawing test is issued with a paper with a
circle drawn in it; he or she is asked to draw clock numbers in the circle and draw clock hands to
indicate the time of interest by the clinician. Different times may be used but 10 minutes after 11
is commonly used. If the screener is given to two people of 60 years and above, the results
obtained are used to draw a conclusion. Many ways may be used to grade the test but the
commonly used one is a score of one point for a correct process which indicates that Dementia is
absent while an abnormal clock completion is grade zero which indicates that a person should be
evaluated further. This screener is faster to use as it can be administered within one minute
compared to other screeners such as SLUMS and MMSE. The screener can also be used to
identify executive functioning problems and this is not possible with other screeners such as
MMSE and SLUMS. The test is reliable and valid for identifying cognitive ability among
individuals especially with Dementia. It covers various cognitive areas including concentration,
for older adults and geriatric care, non-specific patient population, and population with
progressive Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. For instance, Feliciano et al 2013, found out that
excellent validity for community-dwelling elders was r=0.75 for their research while Stewart et
al, 2012 found out that validity for long-term care facility was r=0.83 for their research. SLUMS
may be improved by structuring it to sound more of medically related exercise rather than an
examination as many of those who take it feel intimidated as they have a feeling that they are
taking an exam rather than a medical exercise intended to help them.
CLOCK-DRAWING TEST was developed in the early 1900s to investigate the mental
capability of soldiers who had head injuries. It is used to identify people who may have
neurological problems (for example Dementia and Alzheimer among others) (Ehreke et al,
2010). For more accurate results, it is used with other screening tools such as SLUMS but it can
also be used independently. A person under clock drawing test is issued with a paper with a
circle drawn in it; he or she is asked to draw clock numbers in the circle and draw clock hands to
indicate the time of interest by the clinician. Different times may be used but 10 minutes after 11
is commonly used. If the screener is given to two people of 60 years and above, the results
obtained are used to draw a conclusion. Many ways may be used to grade the test but the
commonly used one is a score of one point for a correct process which indicates that Dementia is
absent while an abnormal clock completion is grade zero which indicates that a person should be
evaluated further. This screener is faster to use as it can be administered within one minute
compared to other screeners such as SLUMS and MMSE. The screener can also be used to
identify executive functioning problems and this is not possible with other screeners such as
MMSE and SLUMS. The test is reliable and valid for identifying cognitive ability among
individuals especially with Dementia. It covers various cognitive areas including concentration,
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