title: Test-retest reliability analysis of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Automated Tests for the assessment of dementia in older people living in retirement homes.
abstract: The validity of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Automated Tests has been widely studied, but their reliability has not. This study aimed to estimate the test-retest reliability of these tests in a sample of 34 older adults, aged 69 to 90 years old, without neuropsychiatric diagnoses and living in retirement homes in the district of Lisbon, Portugal. The battery was administered twice, with a 4-week interval between sessions. The Paired Associates Learning (PAL), Spatial Working Memory (SWM), Rapid Visual Information Processing, and Reaction Time tests revealed measures with high-to-adequate test-retest correlations (.71-.89), although several PAL and SWM measures showed susceptibility to practice effects. Two estimated standardized regression-based methods were found to be more efficient at correcting for practice effects than a method of fixed correction. We also found weak test-retest correlations (.56-.68) for several measures. These results suggest that some, but not all, measures are suitable for cognitive assessment and monitoring in this population.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta Matos
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Salomé
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pinho
authors.affiliation: b Cognitive and Behavioral Center for Research, Psychological Assessment and Psychometrics Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal.
authors.forename: Mário R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Simões
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D016852:Housing for the Elderly; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D011174:Portugal; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Alzheimer disease; CANTAB; practice effects; reliable change index; standardized regression-based models