Predictors of Completion of Executive-Functioning Tasks in a Memory Clinic Dementia Sample

Abstract

It has been observed that persons subsequently diagnosed with dementia often have difficulty completing commonly administered tests of executive function (EF). Interpretation of incompletion is problematic given the composite nature of EF tasks and the multiple impairments often demonstrated by persons with dementia. The goal of the present study was to determine the rate of failure to complete the Color-Word Stroop and Part B of the Trail-Making Test (TMT-B) in a clinical sample of persons with dementia and to explore neuropsychological predictors of incompletion. This study analyzed neuropsychological test data from 213 persons diagnosed with dementia at an interdisciplinary memory clinic. Index scores from the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) were examined as potential predictors of Color-Word Stroop and TMT-B completion in hierarchical logistic regression models. Rates of incompletion were high for both tests (60.6% for the Color-Word Stroop and 67.6% for the TMT-B). RBANS Language Index scores on the Color-Word Stroop predicted completion, while scores on the RBANS Visuospatial, Attention, and Immediate Memory indexes predicted TMT-B completion. The majority of the dementia sample was unable to complete the Color-Word Stroop and TMT-B executive tasks. Non-EF impairments may be implicated in completion of these tasks.

Relationship between 18F-Flutemetamol uptake and RBANS performance in non-demented community-dwelling older adults

“…Numerous research studies have been conducted regarding the ability of the measure to identify cognitive change in individuals with normal cognition (Andreotti & Hawkins, 2015; Cooley et al, 2015; Duff & Ramezani, 2015; Phillips et al, 2015; Thaler, Hill, Duff, Mold, & Scott, 2015), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; Clark, Hobson, & O’Bryant, 2010; Duff, Hobson, Beglinger, & O’Bryant, 2010; Hobson, Hall, Humphreys-Clark, Schrimsher, & O’Bryant, 2010; Karantzoulis, Novitski, Gold, & Randolph, 2013; O’Mahar et al, 2012), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD; Burton, Enright, O’Connell, Lanting, & Morgan, 2015; Duff et al, 2008; Enright, O’Connell, MacKinnon, & Morgan, 2015; Heyanka, Scott, & Adams, 2015; McDermott & DeFilippis, 2010; Morgan, Linck, Scott, Adams, & Mold, 2010; Schmitt et al, 2010). Despite these efforts, however, there have been few studies examining the RBANS and its association with imaging biomarkers related to AD, such as decreased hippocampal volumes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; Choi et al, 2016; Jack et al, 2010), hypometabolism on fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET; Frings, Spehl, Hull, & Meyer, 2016; Jagust et al, 2010), and amyloid accumulations on amyloid PET (Beach, Thal, Zanette, Smith, & Buckley, 2016; L.…”

Intraindividual variability measured with dispersion across diagnostic groups in a memory clinic sample

“…When possible, the most robust statistic is reported (i.e., Pillai's trace) in an effort to protect against assumption violations present (e.g., unequal cell size) in the clinical data (Pillai, 1955;Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996). Unequal cell size occurred as scores on all tests comprising the profiles were necessary for inclusion, and low completion rates of tests (e.g., executive tests; Schmitt et al, 2010) are common among dementia samples (Enright et al, 2015).…”

Combining Physical and Cognitive Functions to Discriminate Level of Gait Independence in Hospitalized Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

“…TMT-A is commonly used to assess the attention function and processing speed in patients with dementia [40, 41]. The upper limit of the implementation time was set at 300 s [42].…”