Version 3 of the Alzheimer Disease Centers’ Neuropsychological Test Battery in the Uniform Data Set (UDS)

Abstract

Introduction:The neuropsychological battery of the Uniform Data Set (UDSNB) was implemented in 2005 by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Alzheimer Disease Centers program to measure cognitive performance in dementia and mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer Disease. This paper describes a revision, the UDSNB 3.0.Methods:The Neuropsychology Work Group of the NIA Clinical Task Force recommended revisions through a process of due diligence to address shortcomings of the original battery. The UDSNB 3.0 covers episodic memory, processing speed, executive function, language, and constructional ability. Data from 3602 cognitively normal participants in the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center database were analyzed.Results:Descriptive statistics are presented. Multivariable linear regression analyses demonstrated score differences by age, sex, and education and were also used to create a normative calculator available online.Discussion:The UDSNB 3.0 neuropsychological battery provides a valuable non proprietary resource for conducting research on cognitive aging and dementia.

Validation of the Czech Montreal Cognitive Assessment for Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer Disease and Czech Norms in 1,552 Elderly Persons

“…Similar histograms have been provided in previous reports from different countries [8, 32, 47]. They are not normally distributed as one would expect for a cognitive test in a normal population.…”

“…This ceiling effect was observed in a large sample of cognitively normal participants in the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center database. More demanding items would result in a Gaussian distribution as found in other visuospatial and verbal memory tests [8]. …”

“…In the current study we replicated the approach applied for the MMSE [31]. Scores of the MoCA may be also influenced by age or education [8, 10-13, 16, 32-33]. Therefore, norms should be adjusted to these factors.…”

“…The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was developed to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) [7]. This test was recently selected to replace the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) as a measure of overall cognitive impairment in the Uniform Data Set for the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center database [8]. The test scores on the MoCA range from 0 to 30 points.…”

Nonlinear Z‐score modeling for improved detection of cognitive abnormality

“…The Z‐score approach to neurocognitive assessment has been extended by multiple groups to consider linear correction for age, sex, and education [2,3]. However, the linear assumption represents a strong constraint on the correction approach because it imposes the assumption of a linear relationship between each of age and education with the neuropsychological outcome scores in the regression.…”