Abstract

BLAY, Sergio Luís; MARI, Jair de Jesus  and  RAMOS, Luiz Roberto. The use of the Face-Hand Test to screen for organic brain syndromes: a pilot study. Rev. Saúde Pública [online]. 1989, vol.23, n.5, pp. 395-400. ISSN 0034-8910.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89101989000500006.

A reduced version of the Face-Hand Test (FHT), the FHT-R, was applied to a random sample of 91 elderly subjects living in the community (S. Paulo-Brazil), to study the instrument's ability to detect Organic Brain Syndromes (OBS). The scores of the FHT-R test were then compared with a psychiatric assessment using the Clinical Interview Schedule. Five persons were regarded as OBS "cases" and 86 as OBS "non cases". At the cut-off point 0/1 the validity coefficients were as follows: Sensitivity 60%, Specificity 94%, Positive Predictive Value 38%, Negative Predictive Value 98% and Overall Misclassification Rate 8%. The usefulness of this clinical test to screen for OBS in epidemiological surveys is discussed.

Keywords : Mass screening [methods]; Face-Hand Test; Organic mental disorders [prevention]; Psychiatric status rating scales; Aged.