title: Naturalistic Action Performance Distinguishes Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment from Healthy Aging.
abstract: Individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) show minor decrements in their instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Sensitive measures of IADL performance are needed to capture the mild difficulties observed in aMCI groups. Routine naturalistic actions (NAs) are familiar IADL-type activities that require individuals to enact everyday tasks such as preparing coffee. In the current study we examined the extent to which NAs could be used to help facilitate differential diagnosis of aMCI relative to composite measures of episodic memory, semantic knowledge, and executive function. Healthy older adults (n=24) and individuals with aMCI (n=24) enacted two highly familiar NAs and completed tests of episodic memory, semantic knowledge, and executive function. Binary logistic regression was used to predict group membership (aMCI vs. control participants). The regression analyses indicated that NA performance could reliably predict group membership, over and above measures of cognitive functioning. These findings indicated that NA performance can be used to help facilitate differential diagnosis of healthy aging and aMCI and used as an outcome measure in intervention studies.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychology,York University,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychology,York University,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Norman W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: 2Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health Program,Baycrest Health Sciences,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Kelly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: 2Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health Program,Baycrest Health Sciences,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Angela K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Troyer
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000647:Amnesia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Ecological validity.; Everyday activity performance; Functional disability; Instrumental activities of daily living; Neuropsychology