title: One-Year Reference Norms of Cognitive Change in Spanish Old Adults: Data from the NEURONORMA Sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Serial cognitive assessments are useful for many purposes, such as monitoring cognitive decline or evaluating the result of an intervention. In order to determine if an observed change is reliable and meaningful, longitudinal reference data from non-clinical samples are needed. Since neuropsychological outcomes are affected by language and cultural background, cognitive tests should be adapted, and country-based norms collected. The lack of cross-sectional normative data for Spanish population has been partially remediated, but there is still a need of reliable change norms. This paper aims to give an initial response to this need by providing several reliable change indices (RCI) for 1-year follow-up in a Spanish sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  A longitudinal observational study was designed. A total of 122 healthy subjects over age 50 were evaluated twice (M = 369.5, SD= 10.7 days) with the NEURONORMA battery. Scores changes were analyzed, and simple discrepancy scores, standard deviation indices, RCI, and standardized regression-based scores were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant improvements were observed in variables related to memory, both verbal and visual, visuospatial function, and the completion time of complex problems. Reference tables for several RCI are provided for their use in clinical settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm the existence of heterogeneous practice effects after 1 year, and support the recommendation of using reliable change norms to avoid misdiagnosis in repeated assessments. This study provides with initial, preliminary norms of cognitive change for its use in Spanish elders. Further studies on larger samples and different inter-visit intervals are still needed.
authors.affiliation: Neurofunctionality and Language Group, Neurosciences Program, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain Clinical Research Program, Barcelona β Brain Research Center, Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Benavides
authors.affiliation: Neurofunctionality and Language Group, Neurosciences Program, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain Section of Behavioral Neurology, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain jpcasanova@parcdesalutmar.cat.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peña-Casanova
authors.affiliation: Neurofunctionality and Language Group, Neurosciences Program, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casals-Coll
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Program, Barcelona β Brain Research Center, Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gramunt
authors.affiliation: Neurofunctionality and Language Group, Neurosciences Program, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain Section of Behavioral Neurology, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Manero
authors.affiliation: Neurofunctionality and Language Group, Neurosciences Program, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain Section of Behavioral Neurology, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Puig-Pijoan
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Hospital Mútua de Terrassa, Terrassa, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Hospital La Rosaleda, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Hospital Virgen Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Antúnez
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frank-García
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Hospital de Cruces, Barakaldo, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernández-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blesa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012016:Reference Values; D013030:Spain
keywords: Assessment; Geriatrics; Practice effects; Reference values; Reliable change