Background & Aims: It is necessary to have dementia screening tools in high diagnostic accuracy level. This study was designed to compare the sensitivity and specificity between two tools of P-CDR and P-COST in the screening of dementia in elderly people. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study, via diagnostic tests accuracy survey, was conducted by using the known-groups method. 200 people as a sample size calculated in this study. The convenience sampling method was used in Kashan, Iran, 2014. The clinical interview and the findings of the CT-Scan were used, as the reference standard test. The index tests were the P-CDR and P-COST. A demographic questionnaire, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and the P-CDR and P-COST were used for data collection and data were analyzed by using the SPSS, version 16.0. The sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each index tests, separately. McNemar test was used to compare sensitivities and specificities between two index tests. Results: The sensitivity and specificity for P-CDR was 100% and 94%, respectively, and these parameters were reported for P-COST.94% and 86%, respectively as well. McNemar's test showed no significant differences between sensitivities but there were significant differences between specificities (p=0.001). Conclusion: The tools of P-CDR and P-COST had high and equal sensitivity in the elderly cognitive state assessment. The Researchers and specialists can use one of these tools in dementia screening. The suitable tool should be selected based on the target group characteristics, assessment objective, and situational factors.

Keywords: Clinical dementia rating, Cognitive state test, Dementia, Sensitivity, Specificity

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