The Korean Size/Weight Attribute Test: A Semantic Knowledge Test for Korean Older Adults and Brain-Imaging Evidence.
BACKGROUND
A standardized tool for evaluating semantic knowledge of the Korean population is needed.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to develop a neuropsychological test for the evaluation of semantic knowledge in the Korean elderly population.


METHODS
The Korean version of the Size/Weight Attribute Test (SWAT-K) was developed in reference to the original version. The diagnostic validity of SWAT-K was evaluated with 95 elderly outpatients [67 normal controls; 18 with Alzheimer's disease (AD); 10 with semantic-variant progressive aphasia (SV-PPA)]. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was employed to examine associations between SWAT-K scores and morphological changes of the brain.


RESULTS
SWAT-K could discriminate the three subject groups (normal >AD, p <  0.001; AD >SV-PPA, p = 0.040), whereas Boston Naming Test could not distinguish SV-PPA from AD. ROC curve analysis confirmed high levels of sensitivity (0.90) and specificity (0.93) for SWAT-K. The test's inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.827) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.666) were assessed as well. VBM found a significant positive correlation (uncorrected p <  0.005, k >  100) between SWAT-K scores and gray matter volume in right inferior frontal cortex (T = 4.08, k = 191) and bilateral temporal cortices (left, T = 4.42, k = 135; right, T = 3.55, k = 253), the areas the most affected in SV-PPA.


CONCLUSIONS
SWAT-K is a sensitive and reliable test for evaluating semantic knowledge in the Korean elderly population. Strong positive correlations between SWAT-K scores and the brain areas responsible for semantic processing further corroborate the validity of SWAT-K.
Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yongjoon
Y
Yoo
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Seong A
SA
Shin
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine and SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.|Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Soowon
S
Park
Yongmoon Graduate School of Counseling Psychology, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Ji-Hye
JH
Lee
Yongmoon Graduate School of Counseling Psychology, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Jung-Hae
JH
Youn
Department of Nuclear Medicine, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yu Kyeong
YK
Kim
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine and SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Jun-Young
JY
Lee
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012372:ROC Curve; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012660:Semantics
Aged; aphasia; cognition; frontotemporal dementia; imaging; language; neuropsychological tests; primary progressive; semantics; three-dimensional