title: Sensitivity and specificity of executive function tests for Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Decline in executive function (EF) occurs early in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can interfere with daily functioning. Unfortunately, little is known about the relative ability of traditional EF tests to detect these cognitive changes. Given that timely diagnosis and intervention are essential to improving functional outcome in this population, our aim was to identify the specific EF measures that best differentiated mild dementia from normal aging. Thirty-one patients with mild AD and 31 controls were administered 7 EF tests. Findings indicated significant between-group differences on all measures except Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The remaining 6 tests displayed fair to good accuracy discriminating between AD cases and controls. Only category fluency and Tower of London test remained in the final regression model that yielded the highest AUC of 0.90, which was not statistically different from that of either test alone. Overall, most of the tests employed were valid for assessing mild EF disturbances. Specifically, the two measures can be used in isolation for quick screening or in combination to facilitate a more in-depth evaluation of EF performance. This study contributes to clinical field by testifying to the validity of various EF tests to identify AD-related compromises in this cognitive domain.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ministry of Health and Welfare Pingtung Hospital , Pingtung , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Fen
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: b Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University , Kaohsiung , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Kuan
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Kaohsiung , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chiung-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: d Occupational Therapy, Kaohsiung Medical University , Kaohsiung , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chwen-Yng
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000066492:Cognitive Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
keywords: Aging; assessment/diagnosis; cognition