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
. 2023 Sep;53(9):e14016.
doi: 10.1111/eci.14016. Epub 2023 May 16.

Using network analysis to validate domains of the modified telephone interview for cognitive status

Quoc Cuong Truong  1 , Matti Cervin  2 , Carol C Choo  3 , Katya Numbers  4 , Adam C Bentvelzen  4 , Alexander G Merkin  5   6   7 , Perminder S Sachdev  4 , Valery L Feigin  5 , Henry Brodaty  4 , Nicole A Kochan  4 , Oleg N Medvedev  1
Affiliations

Using network analysis to validate domains of the modified telephone interview for cognitive status

Quoc Cuong Truong et al. Eur J Clin Invest. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Background: The modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) is a widely used tool for assessing global cognitive functions and screening for cognitive impairments. The tool was conceptualised to capture various cognitive domains, but the validity of such domains has not been investigated against comprehensive neuropsychological assessments tools. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the associations between the TICS-M domains and neuropsychological domains to evaluate the validity of the TICS-M domains using network analysis.

Materials and methods: A longitudinal research design was used with a large sample of older adults (aged above 70 years; n = 1037 at the baseline assessment) who completed the TICS-M and comprehensive neuropsychological assessments biennially. We applied network analysis to identify unique links between the TICS-M domains and neuropsychological test scores.

Results: At baseline, there were weak internal links between the TICS-M domains. The TICS-M memory and language domains were significantly related to their corresponding neuropsychological domains. The TICS-M attention domain had significant associations with executive function and visuospatial abilities. The TICS-M orientation domain was not significantly associated with any of the five neuropsychological domains. Despite an attrition of almost 50% at wave four, weak internal links between the TICS-M domains and most associations between TICS-M and neuropsychological domains that were found initially, remained stable at least over two waves within the 6-year period.

Conclusions: This study supports the overall structural validity of the TICS-M screener in assessing enduring global cognitive function. However, separate TICS-M cognitive domains should not be considered equivalent to the analogous neuropsychological domains.

Keywords: global cognition; modified telephone interview for cognitive status; network analysis; neuropsychological domains.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

REFERENCES

    1. Welsh KA, Breitner JC, Magruder-Habib KM. Detection of dementia in the elderly using telephone screening of cognitive status. Cogn Behav Neurol. 1993;6(2):103-110.
    1. Truong QC, Choo C, Numbers K, et al. Clinical investigation of dynamic and enduring aspects of global cognition in aged population. Eur J Clin Invest. 2022;52(2):e13681. doi:10.1111/eci.13681
    1. Crooks VC, Clark L, Petitti DB, Chui H, Chiu V. Validation of multi-stage telephone-based identification of cognitive impairment and dementia. BMC Neurol. 2005;5(1):1-8. doi:10.1186/1471-2377-5-8
    1. Fong TG, Fearing MA, Jones RN, et al. Telephone interview for cognitive status: creating a crosswalk with the mini-mental state examination. Alzheimers Dement. 2009;5(6):492-497. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2009.02.007
    1. Brandt J, Welsh KA, Breitner JC, Folstein MF, Helms M, Christian JC. Hereditary influences on cognitive functioning in older men: a study of 4000 twin pairs. Arch Neurol. 1993;50(6):599-603. doi:10.1001/archneur.1993.00540060039014

LinkOut - more resources