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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Sep 22, 2015; 5(3): 305-314
Published online Sep 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i3.305
Published online Sep 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i3.305
Months backward test: A review of its use in clinical studies
James Meagher, Cognitive Impairment Research Group, Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Maeve Leonard, Laura Donoghue, Walter Cullen, Colum Dunne, Dimitrios Adamis, David Meagher, University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland
Maeve Leonard, Colum Dunne, Dimitrios Adamis, David Meagher, Cognitive Impairment Research Group, Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation and Immunity (4i), Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Niamh O’Regan, Suzanne Timmons, Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, St. Finbarr’s Hospital, Cork, Ireland
Chris Exton, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Walter Cullen, School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Dimitrios Adamis, Sligo Mental Health Services, Sligo, Ireland
Alasdair J Maclullich, Edinburgh Delirium Research Group, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XD, United Kingdom
David Meagher, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this paper.
Supported by Health Research Board (Ireland) Funding (HRA-POR-2011-48).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this paper have developed a computerised version of the months backward test. No other conflicts of interest were evident for any of the authors of this paper.
Data sharing statement: This is not relevant to this report as there was no sharing of data.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: David Meagher, Professor, Cognitive Impairment Research Group, Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation and Immunity (4i), Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Limerick, Ireland. david.meagher@ul.ie
Telephone: +353-61-202700
Received: March 5, 2015
Peer-review started: March 7, 2015
First decision: April 27, 2015
Revised: June 9, 2015
Accepted: June 30, 2015
Article in press: July 2, 2015
Published online: September 22, 2015
Peer-review started: March 7, 2015
First decision: April 27, 2015
Revised: June 9, 2015
Accepted: June 30, 2015
Article in press: July 2, 2015
Published online: September 22, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: The months backward test is a brief test of cognitive function that is commonly used in clinical practice. It provides a convenient test of central processing speed and both focused and sustained attention. This review of studies reporting its use in clinical populations identified many different approaches to administration and interpretation of the test. Overall, cognitively intact adults can complete the test within 60 s without omission errors, such that failure to achieve this is strongly suggestive of cognitive dysfunction. The sensitivity for neurocognitive disturbance in hospitalised patients is 83%-93% and repeated testing can identify deteriorating cognitive function over time.