The potential clinical utility of methods for estimating prior standing in specific cognitive domains: A feasibility and illustration study
Abstract
This study evaluated a potential strategy for improving the detection of cognitive decline over currently available IQ-based methods. The proposed strategy capitalizes on differences in the patterns of cognitive impairment across neurocognitive disorders. It involves examining estimated/obtained difference scores (D-scores) for the specific cognitive domain(s) (SCDs) most affected by the disorder in question. Unfortunately, specific cognitive domain estimation methods (SCDEMs) are generally lacking. The current study undertook a broad feasibility test of the strategy as a preliminary step in the formal development of SCDEMs. Clinical and control group score distributions were reconstructed from IQ and SCD test (SCDT) means and standard deviations reported in previously published studies of mild Alzheimer's disease (mAD), chronic alcohol abuse (CAA), and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). For each reported test, the percentage of area shared by the two reconstructed clinical and control distribution curves was calculated. Percent overlap values for tests measuring the same SCD were then pooled across studies of the same disorder and averaged, thereby forming indexes that served to estimate SCD sensitivity. The average SCD and IQ overlap values were then compared. The main result suggested that diagnostic accuracy could be improved considerably for mAD through the use of memory D-scores as opposed to IQ D-scores. Improvement in diagnostic accuracy using SCD D-scores occurred to a lesser extent for CAA and mTBI. The development of memory SCDEMs appears clinically worthwhile, especially given its potential application to a disorder of such importance as mAD. However, the utility of such methods may well be limited to disorders in which memory impairment is a characteristic feature, and is relatively greater than any concomitant reduction in IQ. ^
Subject Area
Psychology, Clinical|Psychology, Cognitive|Psychology, Physiological
Recommended Citation
Stephen Correia,
"The potential clinical utility of methods for estimating prior standing in specific cognitive domains: A feasibility and illustration study"
(2001).
Dissertations and Master's Theses (Campus Access).
Paper AAI3025538.
http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dissertations/AAI3025538