title: A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed: norm-referenced criteria for 121 Italian adults aged 45 to 90 years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed (AQT) is a brief test that can identify cognitive impairment. AQT has been validated in Arabic, English, Greek, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish. The aim of this study was to develop Italian criterion-referenced norms for AQT.
  
  
  METHODS
  AQT consists of three test plates where the patient shall rapidly name (1) the color of 40 blue, red, yellow, or black squares (AQT color), (2) the form of 40 black figures (circles, squares, triangles, or rectangles; AQT form), (3) the color and form of 40 figures (consisting of previous colors and forms; AQT color-form). The AQT test was administered to 121 Italian cognitively healthy primary care patients (age range: 45-90 years). Their mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was 28.8 ± 0.9 points (range 26-30 points). AQT naming times in seconds were used for developing preliminary criterion cut-off times for different age groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age was found to have a significant moderate positive correlation with AQT naming times color (r = 0.65, p < 0.001), form (r = 0.53, p < 0.001), color-form (r = 0.63, p < 0.001) and a moderate negative correlation with MMSE score (r = -0.44, p < 0.001) and AQT naming times differed significantly between younger (45-55 years old), older (56-70 years old), and the oldest (71-90 years old) participants. Years of education correlated positively but weakly with MMSE score (r = 0.27, p = 0.003) and negatively but weakly with AQT color (r = -0.16, p = ns), form (r = -0.24, p = 0.007), and color-form (r = -0.19, p = 0.005). We established preliminary cut-off times for the AQT test based on +1 and +2 standard deviations according to the approach in other languages and settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first Italian normative AQT study. Future studies of AQT - a test useful for dementia screening in primary care - will eventually refine cut-off times for normality balancing sensitivity and specificity in cognitive diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.|Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Centre for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ferdinando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Petrazzuoli
authors.affiliation: Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palmqvist
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Centre for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thulesius
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Buono
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pirrotta
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cuffari
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cambielli
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Urso
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Farinaro
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiumeo
authors.affiliation: SNAMID (National Society of Medical Education in General Practice), Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marsala
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Disorders, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Elisabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Wiig
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D000368:Aged; D008297:Male; D005260:Female; D008875:Middle Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D007558:Italy; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis; D000073216:Mental Status and Dementia Tests / Q000592:standards; D012016:Reference Values
keywords: cognitive impairment; dementia evaluation; processing speed