title: A new clinical tool for assessing numerical abilities in neurological diseases: numerical activities of daily living.
abstract: The aim of this study was to build an instrument, the numerical activities of daily living (NADL), designed to identify the specific impairments in numerical functions that may cause problems in everyday life. These impairments go beyond what can be inferred from the available scales evaluating activities of daily living in general, and are not adequately captured by measures of the general deterioration of cognitive functions as assessed by standard clinical instruments like the MMSE and MoCA. We assessed a control group (n = 148) and a patient group affected by a wide variety of neurological conditions (n = 175), with NADL along with IADL, MMSE, and MoCA. The NADL battery was found to have satisfactory construct validity and reliability, across a wide age range. This enabled us to calculate appropriate criteria for impairment that took into account age and education. It was found that neurological patients tended to overestimate their abilities as compared to the judgment made by their caregivers, assessed with objective tests of numerical abilities.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Padova Padova, Italy ; Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo Lido di Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Semenza
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo Lido di Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meneghello
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo Lido di Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcara
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Padova Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Burgio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gnoato
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo Lido di Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Facchini
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo Lido di Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benavides-Varela
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Salute Donna e Bambino, Università di Padova Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clementi
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo Lido di Venezia, Italy ; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London UK.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Butterworth
keywords: acalculia; activities of daily living; mathematical cognition; neurological diseases; neuropsychological assessment