Validity and reliability of a "simplified" version of the Taylor Complex Figure Test for the assessment of older adults with low formal education

Objective : The assessment of visuospatial abilities and memory using tasks such as the Taylor Complex Figure Task (TCFT) is biased for older adults with low formal education. We devised a "Simplified" version of the TCFT designed to assess older adults with low educational background and provide preliminary evidence of its psychometric properties. Methods : We evaluated a heterogeneous sample of healthy older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease dementia using the simplified TCFT and other neuropsychological measures. Results : Our results suggest that the test copy, immediate and delayed recall have high inter-rater agreement and internal consistency, significant correlations with other tests of visuospatial abilities, memory and intelligence, and also detected significant group differences between controls and patients. Conclusion : Our study presents a new measure for assessing low-educated elderly with promising evidence of validity and reliability.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paula,Jonas Jardim de, Costa,Mônica Vieira, Andrade,Giovanna de Freitas de, Ávila,Rafaela Teixeira, Malloy-Diniz,Leandro Fernandes
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Academia Brasileira de Neurologia, Departamento de Neurologia Cognitiva e Envelhecimento 2016
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642016000100052
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Summary:Objective : The assessment of visuospatial abilities and memory using tasks such as the Taylor Complex Figure Task (TCFT) is biased for older adults with low formal education. We devised a "Simplified" version of the TCFT designed to assess older adults with low educational background and provide preliminary evidence of its psychometric properties. Methods : We evaluated a heterogeneous sample of healthy older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease dementia using the simplified TCFT and other neuropsychological measures. Results : Our results suggest that the test copy, immediate and delayed recall have high inter-rater agreement and internal consistency, significant correlations with other tests of visuospatial abilities, memory and intelligence, and also detected significant group differences between controls and patients. Conclusion : Our study presents a new measure for assessing low-educated elderly with promising evidence of validity and reliability.