Validation study of a French version of the modified telephone interview for cognitive status (F‐TICS‐m) in elderly women

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the performance of a French version of the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (F‐TICS‐m) in identifying cognitive decline among elderly women. Methods All women aged 72–86 participating in the ‘Etude Epidémiologique auprès de Femmes de l'Education Nationale’ (E3N) cohort and living in or near Paris constituted the target population of the validation study. Volunteer women (n = 120) underwent both a 20‐min telephone interview and a face‐to‐face neuropsychological examination at an interval of few days (median interval: 10 days). The telephone interview included F‐TICS‐m, as well as a recall of key elements of a short story, arithmetic/verbal problems and two verbal fluency tests. Neuropsychological examination consisted of a standardized battery of cognitive tests (including the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test‐FCSRT, Trailmaking tests A and B, the similarities subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐III, etc.) the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living questionnaire, and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Neuropsychological examination led to classification of each subject as cognitively normal (n = 92) or impaired/demented (n = 28). Results F‐TICS‐m showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.69). It correlated linearly with MMSE (Pearson's r = 0.72). Concurrent validity against the gold‐standard classification was satisfactory, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.83. The combination of F‐TICS‐m and the other telephone tests had no additional effect on discrimination power in our sample (AUC = 0.81). Conclusion F‐TICS‐m is a valid instrument for assessing the overall cognitive status of French elderly women. Its validity in men and its reproducibility warrant further studies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Applicability of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (Modified) in a community sample with low education level: association with an extensive neuropsychological battery

“…Of note, however, the appropriate cut-off of a neurocognitive instrument depends on its purpose and the effects of false positive and false negative results. Here, the determined CI cut-off was both lower than that of the original study (Welsh et al, 1993 reported a mild cognitive impairment threshold of 27 and a sensitivity and specificity of 99 and 96% respectively) as well as that in other TICSM studies found in the literature (Beeri et al, 2003;Moylan et al, 2004;Knopman et al, 2010;Vercambre et al, 2010). This may be possibly explained when noting that CI cut-off scores can be influenced by the socioeconomic and/or educational characteristics, adding to the discussion on considering appropriate thresholds for the study samples being considered, including in telephone-based instruments (which has not yet been fully addressed, probably due to their more recent use).…”

Prevalence and correlates of dementia and mild cognitive impairment classified with different versions of the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS‐m)

“…19,29 Typically, the word list is presented only once during the TICS-m. One study consisting of a highly educated sample in which the TICS-m was modified by presenting the word list three times found that the delayed word list recall task was useful in detecting cognitive impairment (dementia and MCI combined). 30 By comparing previously published approaches to classify cognitive status, we saw considerable differences in the frequency of individuals classified as having dementia or MCI/CIND. The prevalence of MCI/CIND was 9.5% according to the classification by 12 As the total score is mostly affected by the word list recall, TICS-m is more likely to identify amnestic MCI compared with nonamnestic presentations.…”

“…Typically, the word list is presented only once during the TICS‐m. One study consisting of a highly educated sample in which the TICS‐m was modified by presenting the word list three times found that the delayed word list recall task was useful in detecting cognitive impairment (dementia and MCI combined) …”

Improving Older Adults’ Working Memory: the Influence of Age and Crystallized Intelligence on Training Outcomes

“…Twenty-nine older adults aged 60 to 82 years (4 males, 25 females) received the working memory training based on an adaptation of the categorization working memory span task (CWMS group), 29 older adults aged 60 to 74 years (7 males, 22 females) received an alternative training regime based on a visual search task (VS group) and finally, 30 older adults aged 60 to 78 years (11 males, 19 females) participated only for the pre-and the post-test (control group) with on average of 16 days between the two sessions. The three groups did not differ regarding age, years of education, general cognitive abilities (assessed with the French version of the telephone interview for cognitive status, F-TICS-m; Vercambre et al 2010), and crystallized intelligence (assessed with the Mill Hill vocabulary test; Raven et al 1996). Table 1 gives an overview of the demographic characteristics for the three experimental groups.…”