title: Population-based distribution and psychometric properties of a short cognitive performance measure in the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Providing a valid and sensitive measure of different domains of cognitive performance in epidemiologic studies of early old-age populations presents a methodological challenge, given the broad range of variability in cognitive functioning in this age group.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  (1) To provide data on the distribution of cognitive performance scores in a representative sample of an early old-age population, and (2) to assess psychometric properties of a short cognitive performance measure developed within the framework of a cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of the second examination of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, 4,145 participants aged 50-80 years underwent a short cognitive performance assessment composed of 5 subtests with a mean duration of 7.31 min. Additionally, a subsample of 656 participants had a detailed neuropsychological and neurological examination.
  
  
  METHODS
  Age- and education-specific cognitive performance scores in the total sample were calculated. Based on data from the subsample, concurrent validity was examined by comparing findings with a clinically validated neuropsychological assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the total sample, younger and more highly educated participants had higher scores of cognitive performance. In the subsample, a good accuracy [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.81 (0.74-0.87)] of the short cognitive performance assessment compared with results from a clinically established Alzheimer disease assessment scale and diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment [AUC = 0.82 (0.78-0.82)] was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This brief, cognitive performance measure, documenting good psychometric properties, can be useful in future epidemiological investigations exploring different domains and overall cognitive functioning in early old-age populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sociology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. natalia.wege@uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wege
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dlugaj
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siegrist
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dragano
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erbel
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jöckel
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moebus
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weimar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results