title: Reliability study of the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome adapted for a Brazilian sample of older-adult controls and probable early Alzheimer's disease patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ecological tests are useful in assessing executive function deficits and may be of value in appraising response to treatment in Alzheimer's disease patients. Our aims were to examine executive function using the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for a Brazilian sample of older-adult controls and probable early Alzheimer's disease patients, and verify the applicability of this test battery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one older-adult controls were matched with mild Alzheimer's disease patients by age, education, and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There significant inter-group differences in overall profile and almost all subtests except temporal judgment, time spent on planning the first and second Zoo Map visit, number of errors when copying drawings, naming pictures and Six Modified Elements arithmetic, and dysexecutive questionnaire self-rating. The Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome item that best discriminated controls from patients was the Modified Six Elements - adapted (general index), with a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 90%, (AUC = 0.91, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome was effective in detecting executive function deficits in mild Alzheimer's disease patients, particularly the task switching, time monitoring, and rule-shift subtests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabíola
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Canali
authors.forename: Sonia M D
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Brucki
authors.forename: Paulo H F
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Bertolucci
authors.forename: Orlando F A
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Bueno
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications*; D001938:Brazil; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D035061:Control Groups; D004522:Educational Status; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires