TY - JOUR
T1 - Conventional and robust norming in identifying preclinical dementia
AU - Grober, Ellen
AU - Mowrey, Wenzhu
AU - Katz, Mindy
AU - Derby, Carol
AU - Lipton, Richard B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper was presented in part at the Alzheimer Association’s International Conference in Boston, July, 2013. The FCSRT+IR is copyrighted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is made freely available for noncommercial purposes. Ellen Grober receives a small percentage of any royalties on the FCSRT+IR when it is used for commercial purposes. The other authors have no conflict of interest with regard to this manuscript. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant number AG036935 to E.G.], [grant number AG03949 to R.B.L.]; the Leonard and Sylvia Marx Foundation; and the Czap Foundation. Address correspondence to: Ellen Grober, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA (Email: ellen.grober@einstein.yu.edu).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2015/11/26
Y1 - 2015/11/26
N2 - Objective: To contrast four approaches to norming two widely used memory tests in older adults for the purpose of detecting preclinical dementia. Method: The study sample included participants from the Einstein Aging Study who were over age 70, were free of dementia at baseline, and were followed for at least 5 years. Norms were derived from a conventional sample (excluding individuals with dementia at baseline but not those who developed dementia during follow-up) and a robust normative sample (excluding persons with dementia at baseline as well as those who developed dementia over 5 years of follow-up). Both normative samples were examined with and without adjustment for age and education. We contrasted the picture version of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test with Immediate Recall (pFCSRT+IR) and the Logical Memory (LM) test for their ability to identify persons with preclinical dementia, operationally defined by the development of diagnosable dementia over 5 years of follow-up, using these four approaches to developing norms for detecting preclinical dementia. Results. Of 418 participants included in the conventional normative sample, the mean age was 78.2 years, and 59% were female. There were 78 incident cases of dementia over 5 years leaving 340 participants in the robust normative sample. Means and standard deviations were defined for both the conventional and robust normative samples, and cut-scores with and without adjustment were set at 1.5 standard deviations below the mean of each test. As predicted, in comparison with the conventional sample, the robust sample had higher cut-scores, which provided higher sensitivity for detecting preclinical dementia. This effect persisted regardless of adjustment. The pFCSRT+IR was more sensitive than LM in detecting incident dementia cases. Conclusion: When using cognitive test norms to identify preclinical dementia, robust norming procedures improves detection using both the pFCSRT+IR and LM.
AB - Objective: To contrast four approaches to norming two widely used memory tests in older adults for the purpose of detecting preclinical dementia. Method: The study sample included participants from the Einstein Aging Study who were over age 70, were free of dementia at baseline, and were followed for at least 5 years. Norms were derived from a conventional sample (excluding individuals with dementia at baseline but not those who developed dementia during follow-up) and a robust normative sample (excluding persons with dementia at baseline as well as those who developed dementia over 5 years of follow-up). Both normative samples were examined with and without adjustment for age and education. We contrasted the picture version of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test with Immediate Recall (pFCSRT+IR) and the Logical Memory (LM) test for their ability to identify persons with preclinical dementia, operationally defined by the development of diagnosable dementia over 5 years of follow-up, using these four approaches to developing norms for detecting preclinical dementia. Results. Of 418 participants included in the conventional normative sample, the mean age was 78.2 years, and 59% were female. There were 78 incident cases of dementia over 5 years leaving 340 participants in the robust normative sample. Means and standard deviations were defined for both the conventional and robust normative samples, and cut-scores with and without adjustment were set at 1.5 standard deviations below the mean of each test. As predicted, in comparison with the conventional sample, the robust sample had higher cut-scores, which provided higher sensitivity for detecting preclinical dementia. This effect persisted regardless of adjustment. The pFCSRT+IR was more sensitive than LM in detecting incident dementia cases. Conclusion: When using cognitive test norms to identify preclinical dementia, robust norming procedures improves detection using both the pFCSRT+IR and LM.
KW - Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test
KW - Incident dementia
KW - Logical memory
KW - Memory
KW - Mild cognitive impairment
KW - Preclinical dementia
KW - Robust and conventional norms
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U2 - 10.1080/13803395.2015.1078779
DO - 10.1080/13803395.2015.1078779
M3 - Article
C2 - 26325449
AN - SCOPUS:84941880912
SN - 1380-3395
VL - 37
SP - 1098
EP - 1106
JO - Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
JF - Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
IS - 10
ER -