Cross-validation of the Florida Cognitive Activities Scale (FCAS) in an Alzheimer's disease research center sample

Abstract

We conducted a cross-validation study of the Florida Cognitive Activities Scale (FCAS) in a sample of heterogeneously diagnosed elderly participants in the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. FCAS scales were found to be significantly correlated with neuropsychological measures and with ratings of medial temporal atrophy (MTA). The pattern of significant differences in FCAS scores among groups of normals, those with mild cognitive impairment, and early-stage Alzheimer disease cases suggests that the cognitive activities tapped by the FCAS are affected throughout disease progression in the same way as the neuropsychological performance measures. Notably, FCAS score differences among these groups were as large as they were for ratings of MTA. The accumulation of reliability and validity data indicates that the FCAS scales are sensitive measures of individual differences in cognitive activity and would serve as valid longitudinal measures of change in the study of aging, cognitive decline, and degenerative dementia.