Word association test could help identify dementia at home

Dementia is an umbrella term for conditions that are characterised by an impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interfere with daily life.

Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease can buy precious time to intervene, motivating experts to uncover the early signs and ways of detecting the mind-robbing condition.

Fortunately, a simple at-home test could help do exactly that.

There are several ways you can check if someone might be showing early signs of the mind-robbing condition, such as getting them to draw a clock.

Another effective method is asking the person to do a word test, which could help detect memory problems. 

Your brain stores all the words you learn in your memories, which you then use to recollect what a word means without thinking about it.

However, a person who is showing signs of dementia might have difficulty remembering certain words, or confuse them.

This can point to trouble with their memory, which is considered to be an early sign of dementia.

According to the UK Dementia Directory, word association tests can therefore work well as a quick way of detecting memory problems.

While there are many ways to go around this, the health portal recommends naming all the animals you can in one minute. 

Alternatively, you could also list all the types of fruit you can remember.

The important part is that it should be a topic where someone can name many items easily.

Research has found that healthy individuals usually score between 20 to 25 words within the one-minute time limit, but a person with memory problems usually scores between 10 to 15.

While this could be a good indication of memory problems and you might want to see a GP about dementia, the test doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you have the brain condition.