Toulouse-Piéron Cancellation Test: Normative scores for the portuguese population.

The Toulouse-Piéron Cancelation Test (TP) is a classic psychometric tool for the assessment of selective/sustained attention, processing speed and visuo-perceptual abilities. It is commonly used in neurological disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease. It encompasses two main indexes: Work-Efficiency (WE) and Dispersion-Index (DI). The aim of this study is to provide normative scores for the TP in a sample of Portuguese healthy adults. The TP was administered to a convenience sample of 357 cognitively-dwelling subjects aged between [45 and 86] years old, following a standard assessment protocol. The normative scores were adjusted for age and education. Education was the main predictor of TP-WE (R2 = .310), whereas the influence of age on this score was lower (R2 = .191). These two variables explained 50.1% of the variance of the results. Regarding TP-DI, education was also the main predictor of the results (R2 = .039), whereas age was responsible for R2 = .011 and together, they explained 5% of the variance of TP-DI. TP performances are strongly influenced by age and education. This is the first study focused on the establishment of normative data after the age of 45 in the Portuguese population, allowing a reliable assessment in both clinical and research contexts.

Assessment of the Financial Capacity in the Context of Normal and Pathological Cognitive Aging. Preliminary Analysis of the Portuguese Version of the Numerical Activities of Daily- Living- Financial (NADL-F).

Financial capacity (FC) is conceptualized as a dimension that encompasses a wide range of basic aptitudes and the capacity to judge and assess situations and make decisions according to one best interests. The Numerical Activities of Daily-Living-Financial (NADL-F) is an instrument of FC for clinical use developed in Italy. This study aims to perform a preliminary analysis on the psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese version of NADL-F. NADL-F as well as other neuropsychological instruments were administered to three groups: Healthy Control (n = 11); Mild Neurocognitive Disorder group (n = 19); Major Neurocognitive Disorder group (n = 19). NADL-F and its tasks were considered acceptable, showed good reliability for the entire sample (α = .808) and the majority of the domains correlated significantly with each other and with the total scale. Between group comparisons showed significant differences regarding all domains. Arithmetic, schooling and executive functioning accounted for 54.1% of the variance on the test. The Portuguese version of NADL-F proved to be an acceptable and valid instrument of assessing FC in the context of cognitive aging. NADL-F is an instrument that emulates real life financial situations, and it can be used in a second level of evidence in the clinical model of FC assessment.

Normative data of the Portuguese version of the Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination.

INTRODUCTION: Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (M-ACE) is a screening neurocognitive test with diagnostic accuracy for mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The present study aims to determine the construct validity, concurrent and divergent validity and to determine the normative equation for the Portuguese version of M-ACE. METHOD: The sample is composed by 130 participants without any subjective complaint of memory loss and completely independent in daily life activities, recruited in health units, day care centers and religious and civic associations, from several districts of Portugal. The ACE-III, from which the M-ACE was extracted, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered to all participants. RESULTS: Reliability is considered good (α = 0.844) and the item-total correlations of the M-ACE were highly significant. M-ACE showed a positive correlation with ACE-III and a negative correlation with GDS. Schooling and age were the only variables related to M-ACE performance. The obtained model from the multiple regression was significant. A normative equation was extracted from this model. CONCLUSIONS: The Portuguese version of M-ACE has solid psychometric properties enabling its clinical use. The availability of M-ACE normative equation based on a healthy sample according to age and education enables the use of a brief screening tool for cognitive functioning. M-ACE does not require formal specialized training, it is a quick test which can be an advantage, for instance, in primary health care consultations.

Validation of the Portuguese version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III in mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive assessment is central to the diagnosis of cognitive impairment and dementia, and it should be performed in all patients in the early stages of the disease. Recently, the 3rd version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE-III) has been developed in order to improve the previous versions. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of ACE-III, namely: reliability and discriminative validity (sensitivity and specificity) in the identification of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, in comparison to other neuropsychological screening tests, as well as to establish its concurrent and divergent validity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study encompassed a sample of 90 participants distributed into 3 groups: Control (n = 30), MCI (n = 30) and Dementia (n = 30). In addition to ACE-III, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were also used. RESULTS: The reliability of ACE-III was very good (α = 0.914). ACE-III significantly differentiated the 3 groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves significantly favored ACE-III in comparison to another screening test - MoCA. ACE-III presented higher levels of sensitivity and specificity. Its total score correlated positively with the results on MoCA (ρ = 0.912; p < 0.001) and negatively with a depression scale (ρ = -0.505; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Portuguese version of ACE-III has very good reliability and high diagnostic capacity in the context of MCI and dementia. ACE-III also holds concurrent and divergent validity.