Validation of selective attention and memory measures as early markers for Alzheimer's disease.

It is important to diagnose people with Alzheimer’s disease at the earliest possible stage and discriminate these individuals from healthy older adults. This study aimed to develop prospective memory and selective attention measures to enable detection of individuals with the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Three groups of community-dwelling older adults were recruited: healthy older adults (mean age, 75.06 years), older adults in the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease but not yet clinically diagnosed (mean age, 78.66 years), and older adults clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (mean age, 80.20 years). Informed consent was obtained from each individual. Participants were screened for colourblindness, depression, untreated hypertension, reversible dementia, and other disorders that could potentially produce cognitive impairment. Prospective memory and selective attention tasks were conducted using a laptop computer at place of residence or regional social centre.