title: Specificity of the 21-Item Test in two elderly samples.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to measure the specificity of the 21-Item Test for detecting malingering in an elderly sample. The 21-Item Test was administered to 20 community-dwelling elderly individuals with means for age, education, and Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) error scores of 76.25 years (SD = 7.19), 14.30 years (SD = 3.89), and 0.30 (SD = 4.70). None of these healthy elderly participants were cognitively impaired. A second group of 53 nursing home residents had means for age, education, and SPMSQ error scores of 82.79 years (SD = 8.56), 11.14 years (SD = 2.46), and 3.17 (SD = 2.46). Approximately 60% of the nursing home participants had cognitive impairment based on the SPMSQ. The cut offs provided by Iverson (1998 , 21 Item Test Research Manual) for interpretation of the forced-choice component of the 21-Item Test were insensitive to age and relatively insensitive to cognitive deficits. Specificity was 100% since no elderly participant from either group scored in the range indicative of sub-optimal effort or biased responding.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Science, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093, USA. ryan@ucmo.edu
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Turpin
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kreiner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009735:Nursing Homes; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires