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Background and ObjectivesThe neuropsychological exam plays a central role in the assessment of elderly patients with cognitive complaints. It is particularly relevant to differentiate patients with mild dementia from those subjects with mild cognitive impairment. Formal education is a critical factor in neuropsychological performance; however, there are few studies that evaluated the psychometric properties, especially criterion related validity, neuropsychological tests for patients with low formal education. The present study aims to investigate the validity of an unstructured neuropsychological assessment protocol for this population and develop cutoff values for clinical use.Methods and ResultsA protocol composed by the Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Frontal Assessment Battery, Category and Letter Fluency, Stick Design Test, Clock Drawing Test, Digit Span, Token Test and TN-LIN was administered to 274 older adults (96 normal aging, 85 mild cognitive impairment and 93 mild Alzheimer`s disease) with predominantly low formal education. Factor analysis showed a four factor structure related to Executive Functions, Language/Semantic Memory, Episodic Memory and Visuospatial Abilities, accounting for 65% of explained variance. Most of the tests showed a good sensitivity and specificity to differentiate the diagnostic groups. The neuropsychological protocol showed a significant ecological validity as 3 of the cognitive factors explained 31% of the variance on Instrumental Activities of Daily Living.ConclusionThe study presents evidence of the construct, criteria and ecological validity for this protocol. The neuropsychological tests and the proposed cutoff values might be used for the clinical assessment of older adults with low formal education.

Brief cognitive tests are widely used in neuropsychology and related areas, in order to assess and diagnose develop mental, neurological, and psychiatric conditions. The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is also adopted as a screening tool for cognitive impairment in several conditions such as dementia, stroke, schizophrenia, mild cognitive impairment and mood disorders¹. The CDT basically consists of the drawing of dif ferent elements of a clock, including the clock face, numbers, and arrow-hands. The instructions and scoring methods vary according to each version. Influences of aging and education are also related to test performance, where children and the elderly perform worse than adults and lower education asso ciates with worse performance².Different versions of the CDT were developed. Although very similar and highly correlated³, they differ in diagnosis accuracy 4 and probably on the cognitive processes involved ABSTRACTThe Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a cognitive screening tool used in clinical and research settings. Despite its role on the assessment of global cognitive functioning, the specific cognitive components required for test performance are still unclear. We aim to assess the role of executive functioning, global cognitive status, visuospatial abilities, and semantic knowledge on Shulman's CDT performance. Fifty-three mild cognitive impairment, 60 Alzheimer's dementia, and 57 normal elderly controls performed the CDT, the Frontal Assessment Battery, the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Stick Design Test, and a naming test (TN-LIN). An ordinal regression assessed specific neuropsychological in fluences on CDT performance. All the cognitive variables were related to the CDT, accounting for 53% of variance. The strongest association was between the CDT and executive functions, followed by global cognitive status, visuospatial processing, and semantic knowledge. Our result confirms the multidimensional nature of the test and the major role of executive functions on performance.Keywords: clock drawing test, executive functions, visuospatial abilities, semantic knowledge, dementia. Palavras-chave: teste do desenho do relógio, funções executivas, habilidades visioespaciais, conhecimento semântico, demência. RESUMO

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The semantic verbal fluency task is broadly used in the neuropsychological assessment of elderly subjects. Even some studies have identified differences in verbal fluency clustering and switching measures between subjects with normal aging and a clinical condition such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease, the results are not always consistent. This study aimed to compare clustering and switching measures of an animal's semantic verbal fluency task among normal controls (NC, n = 25), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI; n = 25), amnestic multiple domain Mild Cognitive Impairment (a+mdMCI; n = 25) and Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 25) Brazilian subjects. The analyses were executed considering three (unifying the MCI subtypes) and four groups. As the data were not normally distributed, we carried out non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests) to evaluate the differences in performance in the measures of the verbal fluency test among the groups. The comparison demonstrated that the groups differed in the total of correct words produced, number of clusters and switching but the measure of new subcategories was the only with significant difference among the NC and all the clinical groups. The measure of new subcategories is the number of original subcategories inside the higher category of animals that the subject produced, such as farm, domestic, African animals. Our results indicate that semantic memory impairment is a visible and recent deficit that occurs even in non-demented subjects with very MCI and the implications of these findings are discussed.

Objective: To propose and evaluate the psychometric properties of a multidimensional measure of activities of daily living (ADLs) based on the Katz and Lawton indices for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: In this study, 85 patients with MCI and 93 with AD, stratified by age (f 74 years, . 74 years), completed the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Geriatric Depression Scale, and their caregivers completed scales for ADLs. Construct validity (factor analysis), reliability (internal consistency), and criterion-related validity (receiver operating characteristic analysis and logistic regression) were assessed. Results: Three factors of ADL (self-care, domestic activities, and complex activities) were identified and used for item reorganization and for the creation of a new inventory, called the General Activities of Daily Living Scale (GADL). The components showed good internal consistency (. 0.800) and moderate (younger participants) or high (older participants) accuracy for the distinction between MCI and AD. An additive effect was found between the GADL complex ADLs and global ADLs with the MMSE for the correct classification of younger patients. Conclusion: The GADL showed evidence of validity and reliability for the Brazilian elderly population. It may also play an important role in the differential diagnosis of MCI and AD.

This study identifies geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic 2,3 . No Brasil, apesar da expressiva melhora na coleta e qualidade dos dados de mortalidade 4 , ainda persistem problemas, destacando-se o sub-registro de óbitos e as falhas no preenchimento das informações, principalmente aquela referente à causa básica de morte 5,6,7 .A proporção de mortes por causas mal definidas, correspondentes ao capítulo XVIII da Classificação Internacional de Doenças -10 a Revisão (CID-10) 8 Sintomas, Sinais e Achados Anormais de Exames Clínicos e de Laboratório não Classificados em Outra Parte, tem sido amplamente utilizada e reconhecida como indicador para avaliar a qualidade da informação das causas de mortalidade 3,7,9,10,11 . Em muitos casos, essa proporção é resultado da falta de infraestrutura assistencial, condições para o diagnóstico de doenças e, ainda, capacitação profissional para preenchimento das DO 12 . Um percentual elevado de óbitos por causas mal definidas prejudica a compreensão do padrão, nível e causalidade da mortalidade 4,7 . No Brasil, análises da situação de saúde dos idosos ficam comprometidas pela elevada propor-ARTIGO ARTICLE

The use of alternative feeding, along with the number of pressure ulcers were associated with an increased risk of death in elderly patients with advanced dementia. A higher incidence of aspiration pneumonia was also observed in the alternative feeding group. The number of hospital admissions was not different between the feeding routes.