Signs and symptoms method in neuropsychology: A standardized observational examination of cognitive functions can be effective in detecting mild cognitive impairment.

Objective: The present study aimed at investigating the sensitivity and specificity of the NeuroPsychological Examination (NPE), a systematic collection of cognitive signs and symptoms based on the observation of the patient's behavior during a clinical interview, in detecting Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Method: 475 participants, 208 suffering from MCI, 188 suffering from dementia and 79 subjective cognitive decline (SCD), have been assessed using NPE for the presence of signs and symptoms of cognitive impairment. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and the Youden's test were used to determine the more appropriate cutoff points for the number of neuropsychological signs at the NPE that enabled to discriminate SCD from MCI, SCD from dementia and MCI from dementia.