The "Protocole d'Examen Cognitif de la Personne Agée - Lausanne" (PECPA-L): a cognitive assessment tool for the French-speaking elderly in Switzerland.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this study was to validate and normalize, in the French-speaking population of Switzerland, an empirically derived structured cognitive assessment scale for the elderly.


METHODS
237 healthy elderly and 115 elderly with mild-to-moderate dementia as well as a preliminary sample of 27 subjects with MCI, all community-dwelling, were assessed using the PECPA-L for its validation and normalization using Crohnbach's alpha, rank comparisons, and AUROC measures.


RESULTS
The internal consistency of the PECPA-L was good (Crohnbach's Alpha=0.79). The discriminating power of the PECPA-L between the normal elderly and the mildly to moderately demented (AUROC=0.940) and those with MCI (AUROC=0.925) was high. Normal aging does not influence all cognitive domains equally; therefore, the subscores of the PECPA-L vary in their discriminating power between the normal and the demented elderly, with gnosis abilities having the least (AUROC=0.719) and delayed memory performance having the highest (AUROC=0.927) discriminating power. Normative data according to age and education are provided.


CONCLUSIONS
The PECPA-L is a highly appropriate tool for the detection and documentation of early cognitive impairment in the French-speaking population in Switzerland while accounting for age and education.
von Gunten
A
A
Consultation de la Mémoire, Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l'Age Avancé SUPAA, Département de Psychiatrie du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland. armin.von-gunten@chuv.ch
Brull
J
J
Küng
A
A
Simms
K
K
Taillefer
D
D
Geneau
D
D
Duc
R
R
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013557:Switzerland