MINT SPRINT 2.0 TEST: Greek adaptation in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of the Greek adaptation of the MINT Sprint 2.0, a culturally adapted picture-naming task, for the detection of early naming impairments associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Naming deficits are among the earliest cognitive changes in Alzheimer’s disease, reflecting difficulties in semantic memory and lexical retrieval. The study focused on the ability of the MINT Sprint 2.0 to differentiate individuals at preclinical and early stages of the disease from cognitively healthy adults. A total of 170 Greek-speaking participants were classified into three diagnostic groups: individuals with mild cognitive impairment with biomarker evidence of Alzheimer’s disease, individuals with mild cognitive impairment without such biomarker evidence, and cognitively intact adults. All participants completed the MINT Sprint 2.0, which assesses both naming accuracy and response speed. Group differences in performance were examined using appropriate statistical methods. The findings demonstrated that diagnostic status significantly affected both naming accuracy and response latency. Participants with biomarker evidence of Alzheimer’s disease showed reduced naming performance and slower responses compared to the other groups, while cognitively intact individuals exhibited the best overall performance. The MINT Sprint 2.0 was able to distinguish reliably between all diagnostic groups. In addition, performance on the MINT Sprint 2.0 was strongly associated with performance on an established naming test, supporting its validity as a measure of lexical retrieval abilities. Overall, the results indicate that the Greek version of the MINT Sprint 2.0 is a sensitive and valid tool for identifying early naming impairments related to Alzheimer’s disease. Its cultural adaptation and the inclusion of response time measures enhance its clinical relevance, suggesting that it may be particularly useful as a screening instrument for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease in Greek-speaking populations.