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Six Item Cognitive Impairment Test

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Six Item Cognitive Impairment Test, 6CIT

  • Indications
  1. Dementia Screening in primary care
  • Background
  1. Six question test can be completed within 4 minutes
  2. Formulated from a regression analysis of the Blessed Information Memory Concentration (BIMC)
  3. Kingshill Version 2000 Rights are owned by Kingshill Research Centre in Swindon, UK
    1. Medical providers are allowed free usage
  • Questions (correct answers are assigned 0 points)
  1. What year is it?
    1. Score 4 points if incorrect
  2. What month is it?
    1. Score 3 points if incorrect
  3. Remember an address with 5 components (e.g. Bill, Johnson, 67, Hill Street, Chicago)
    1. Will be asked later
  4. About what time is it (within 1 hour)?
    1. Score 3 points if incorrect
  5. Count backwards from 20 to 1
    1. Score 2 points for 1 error
    2. Score 4 points for more than 1 error
  6. Say months of the year in reverse
    1. Score 2 points for 1 error
    2. Score 4 points for more than 1 error
  7. Repeat the address with the 5 components (see above)
    1. Score 2 points for 1 error
    2. Score 4 points for 2 errors
    3. Score 6 points for 3 errors
    4. Score 8 points for 4 errors
    5. Score 10 points for 5 errors (all incorrect)
  • Interpretation
  • Based on total score (0 to 28)
  1. Normal Score: 0 to 7 Points
  2. Score suggestive of Dementia: 8 or more
  • Efficacy
  1. Test Sensitivity: 90% (78% in mild Dementia)
  2. Test Specificity: 100%
  • Resources
  1. Six Item Cognitive Impairment Test (6CIT) PDF
    1. http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/862/FOI-286g-13.pdf
  2. PatientPlus 6CIT Calculator
    1. http://patient.info/doctor/six-item-cognitive-impairment-test-6cit
  • References
  1. Brooke (1999) Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 14(11): 936-40 [PubMed]