The BOMC

The BOMC Test is above. Originally developed by British psychiatrist Blessed as the Blessed Information-Memory-Concentration Test in the 1960's, and later shortened and validated with autopst neuropathological correlation as the Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test in the the 1980's, the BOMC test is seeing a lot more use in clinical neurology here these days.

Why? Of the commonly used standardized cognitive tests for dementia, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Trump favorite Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), only the BOMC can be done without passing the patient a prepared piece of paper upon which to draw, copy, or write. The BOMC can be done purely over the video telemedicine conference line, no physical contact required!

The coronavirus epidemic has had many unforseen effects on 21st century medical practice, and the increase in our use of an older but fully validated tool because of an unforseen virtue for telemedicine is a quirky such effect.

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Am J Psychiatry. 1983 Jun;140(6):734-9. doi: 10.1176/ajp.140.6.734.

Validation of a short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test of cognitive impairment

Authors: R Katzman, T Brown, P Fuld, A Peck, R Schechter, H Schimmel

PMID: 6846631 DOI: 10.1176/ajp.140.6.734

Abstract

A 6-item Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test has been validated as a measure of cognitive impairment. This test predicted the scores on a validated 26-item mental status questionnaire of two patient groups in a skilled nursing home, patients in a health-related facility, and in a senior citizens' center. There was a positive correlation between scores on the 6-item test and plaque counts obtained from the cerebral cortex of 38 subjects at autopsy. This test, which is easily administered by a nonphysician, has been shown to discriminate among mild, moderate, and severe cognitive deficits.