Demographic Corrections for the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status

Abstract

Despite the growing use of the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (mTICS) as a cognitive screening instrument, it does not yet have demographic corrections. Demographic data, mTICS, and a neuropsychological battery were collected from 274 community dwelling older adults with intact cognition or mild cognitive impairments. Age, education, premorbid intellect, and depression were correlated with mTICS scores. Using regression equations, age and education significantly predicted mTICS total score, and depression and premorbid intellect further enhanced this prediction. These results were comparable when only examining the 153 cognitively intact subjects. By using these corrections, clinicians and researchers can more accurately predict an individual’s cognitive status with this telephone screening measure.

Feasibility study for remote assessment of cognitive function in multiple sclerosis

“…Scores derived in the current study were significantly correlated with self-perceived cognitive deficits collected through self-report for each participant using the PDQ at the same time the objective TICS-M was performed, controlling for sex, current depression and parental education. On average, the TICS-M score was significantly lower in MS cases when compared to controls, even after accounting for age, sex, education, depression and smoking status 15 . Importantly, findings persisted when cases were restricted to those with disease duration of less than five years, suggesting that the TICS-M might be sensitive for patients early in the disease course with cognitive impairment.…”

“…Importantly, we controlled for potential confounders such as DMT use. Further, two variables captured history of depression and current depression at time of TICS-M administration; both can affect cognitive performance 15 and were included in models. Additionally, accounting also for other covariates such as sex and parental-education that were associated with the TICS-M score, indicates the observed difference between cases and controls is likely due to cognitive impairment, as measured by TICS-M. Self-education, which differed at baseline between cases and controls (Table 1), can impact the TICS-M score.…”

“…Environmental exposure data included history of tobacco smoking (ever/never), history of infectious mononucleosis (IM; ever/never), parental and self-education level (7-level scale, doctoral degree=0 to less than high school=6), family history of MS (first degree relatives), current body mass index (BMI; kilograms/meters 2 ), and history of vitamin D supplementation (ever/never) ( Table 1). Current and past history of depression were also collected 15 . History of depression was categorized as ever if the participant answered yes to either of the following questions: "Have you ever had a period of at least two weeks when you were bothered most of the day, nearly every day, by feeling depressed, sad, down, or low?"…”

Factors associated with cognitive impairment in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study

“…One explanation is that the mode of cognitive assessment introduced language and cultural barriers to patients of non-white ethnicity. Educational level and premorbid intellect have been shown to influence performance on other modified versions of the TICS (Dennett et al, 2013). However, the TICS has been shown to have high validity among ethnically diverse older adults (Manly et al, 2011), while fluency in spoken English was an inclusion criterion for SOUL-D. Another possible explanation is that people of non-white ethnicity have poorer glycaemic control before recognition of diabetes by health services.…”

“…The range of possible scores is 0À39. Of note, this is a different range of scores to other modified versions of the TICS (Dennett, Tometich, & Duff, 2013). Whilst defined cut-off scores could be used to define mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia on TICS-M, in validity studies the assessment has performed only modestly in separating MCI from either normal cognition or dementia (Knopman et al, 2010).…”