title: The Plan-a-Day approach to measuring planning ability in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: Deficits in executive functioning are closely related to the level of everyday functioning in patients with schizophrenia. However, many existing neuropsychological measures are limited in their ability to predict functional outcome. To contribute towards closing this gap, we developed a computer-based test of planning ability ("Plan-a-Day") that requires participants to create daily activity schedules in a simulated work setting. Eighty patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were tested with Plan-a-Day and a battery of cognitive ability tests. Plan-a-Day showed satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of consistency, reliability, and construct validity. Compared to other neuropsychological tests used in this study, it also demonstrated incremental validity with regard to the Global Assessment of Functioning. The Plan-a-Day approach, therefore, seems to represent a valid alternative for measuring planning ability in patients with executive function deficits, occupying a middle ground between traditional neuropsychological tests and real-life assessments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. daniel.holt@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Daniel V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Katlehn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rodewald
authors.forename: Mirjam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rentrop
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Funke
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weisbrod
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaiser
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult