Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Jan;57(1):120-5.
doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.02054.x. Epub 2008 Nov 3.

Mild cognitive impairment and objective instrumental everyday functioning: the everyday cognition battery memory test

Jason C Allaire  1 , Alyssa Gamaldo, Brian J Ayotte, Regina Sims, Keith Whitfield
Affiliations

Mild cognitive impairment and objective instrumental everyday functioning: the everyday cognition battery memory test

Jason C Allaire et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the performance subjects with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) on an objective measure of everyday or real-world memory and subjective items assessing competency within the same instrumental domains; to determine whether the Everyday Cognition Battery (ECB) can uniquely predict MCI status.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Independent-living sample of urban dwelling elders in Baltimore Maryland.

Participants: The sample consisted of 555 subjects ranging in age from 50 to 95 (mean 68.8 +/- 9.6).

Measurements: Objective performance in three instrumental domains (medication use, financial management, nutrition and food preparation) was assessed using the ECB Memory Test. Subjective performance within the same instrumental domains was also assessed.

Results: No difference was found between elderly subjects with and without MCI on the subjective items of instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) competency. A significant multivariate effect for cognitive status group (F(3, 507)=21.88, P<.05, eta(2)=.12) was observed for the objective measure, with participants with MCI performing, on average, significantly worse than those without on all thee instrumental domain subscales. The medicine use (odds ratio (OR)=0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.94-0.99) and financial management (OR=0.93, 95% CI=0.91-0.96) subscales of the ECB Memory Test were unique and significant predictors of MCI.

Conclusion: This study adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that cognitively complex IADLs might be compromised in elderly people with MCI. Moreover, the ECB Memory Test might be a clinically useful tool in evaluating real-world competency.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper.

References

    1. Nygård L. Instrumental activities of daily living: A stepping-stone toward Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neurol Scand. 2003;107:42–46. - PubMed
    1. Winblad B, OPalmer K, Kivipelto M, et al. Mild cognitive impairment-beyond controversies, towards a consensus: report of the International Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Intern Med. 2004;256:240–246. - PubMed
    1. Artero S, Touchon J, Ritchie K. Disability and mild cognitive impairment: A longitudinal population-based study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2001;16:1092–1097. - PubMed
    1. Perneczky R, Pohl C, Sorg C, et al. Complex activities of daily living in mild cognitive impairment: Conceptual and diagnostic issues. Age and Ageing. 2006;35:240–245. - PubMed
    1. Peres K, Helmer C, Amiela H, et al. Natural history of decline in instrumental activities of daily living performance over the 10 years preceding the clinical diagnosis of dementia: A prospective population-based study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;56:37–44. - PubMed

Publication types