An evaluation of the Cambridge Contextual Reading Test (CCRT) in Alzheimer's disease.

Thirty patients with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease were assessed using the traditional National Adult Reading Test (NART) and also by placing the NART stimulus words in context (meaningful sentences)--the Cambridge Contextual Reading Test (CCRT) condition. Placing the stimulus words in sentences acted to significantly reduce overall pronunciation error rates. This beneficial effect was most marked for more severely cognitively impaired patients. NART performance was significantly correlated with Mini-Mental State total score; however, CCRT performance was not. Placing the stimulus words in context acted to improve the performance of more cognitively impaired Alzheimer patients and thus provides a more valid estimate of premorbid ability compared with the standard presentation of NART stimulus words in isolation.