BACKGROUND: Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) is a potential early marker for actual cognitive decline. The cognitive manifestation of the SCI stage is, however, largely unknown. Self-report instruments developed especially for use in the SCI population are lacking, and many SCI studies have not excluded mild cognitive impairment and dementia. We developed and tested a patient-based questionnaire on everyday cognitive function aiming to discriminate between patients with subjective, but not objective, cognitive impairment and healthy controls. METHODS: Individuals experiencing cognitive impairment were interviewed to generate a pool of items. After condensing to 97 items, we tested the questionnaire in 93 SCI patients seeking care at a memory clinic (age M = 64.5 years, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) M = 29.0) and 50 healthy controls (age M = 69.6 years, MMSE M = 29.3). Further item reduction was conducted to maximize that remaining items would discriminate between SCI patients and controls, using a conservative α level and requiring medium to high effect sizes. Internal consistency reliability and convergent validity was subsequently examined. RESULTS: Forty-five items discriminated between the groups, resulting in the Sahlgrenska Academy Self-reported Cognitive Impairment Questionnaire (SASCI-Q). Internal consistency was high and correlations to a single question on memory functioning were of medium to large sizes. Most remaining items were related to the memory domain. CONCLUSION: The SASCI-Q discriminates between SCI patients and healthy controls and demonstrates satisfying psychometric properties. The instrument provides a research method for examining SCI and forms a foundation for future examining which SCI symptoms predict objective cognitive decline. The cognitive manifestation of the SCI stage is mostly related to experiences of memory deficits.
BACKGROUND: Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) is a potential early marker for actual cognitive decline. The cognitive manifestation of the SCI stage is, however, largely unknown. Self-report instruments developed especially for use in the SCI population are lacking, and many SCI studies have not excluded mild cognitive impairment and dementia. We developed and tested a patient-based questionnaire on everyday cognitive function aiming to discriminate between patients with subjective, but not objective, cognitive impairment and healthy controls. METHODS: Individuals experiencing cognitive impairment were interviewed to generate a pool of items. After condensing to 97 items, we tested the questionnaire in 93 SCI patients seeking care at a memory clinic (age M = 64.5 years, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) M = 29.0) and 50 healthy controls (age M = 69.6 years, MMSE M = 29.3). Further item reduction was conducted to maximize that remaining items would discriminate between SCI patients and controls, using a conservative α level and requiring medium to high effect sizes. Internal consistency reliability and convergent validity was subsequently examined. RESULTS: Forty-five items discriminated between the groups, resulting in the Sahlgrenska Academy Self-reported Cognitive Impairment Questionnaire (SASCI-Q). Internal consistency was high and correlations to a single question on memory functioning were of medium to large sizes. Most remaining items were related to the memory domain. CONCLUSION: The SASCI-Q discriminates between SCI patients and healthy controls and demonstrates satisfying psychometric properties. The instrument provides a research method for examining SCI and forms a foundation for future examining which SCI symptoms predict objective cognitive decline. The cognitive manifestation of the SCI stage is mostly related to experiences of memory deficits.
Authors: Anders Wallin; Arto Nordlund; Michael Jonsson; Karin Lind; Åke Edman; Mattias Göthlin; Jacob Stålhammar; Marie Eckerström; Silke Kern; Anne Börjesson-Hanson; Mårten Carlsson; Erik Olsson; Henrik Zetterberg; Kaj Blennow; Johan Svensson; Annika Öhrfelt; Maria Bjerke; Sindre Rolstad; Carl Eckerström Journal: J Cereb Blood Flow Metab Date: 2016-01 Impact factor: 6.200
Authors: Frank Jessen; Rebecca E Amariglio; Martin van Boxtel; Monique Breteler; Mathieu Ceccaldi; Gaël Chételat; Bruno Dubois; Carole Dufouil; Kathryn A Ellis; Wiesje M van der Flier; Lidia Glodzik; Argonde C van Harten; Mony J de Leon; Pauline McHugh; Michelle M Mielke; Jose Luis Molinuevo; Lisa Mosconi; Ricardo S Osorio; Audrey Perrotin; Ronald C Petersen; Laura A Rabin; Lorena Rami; Barry Reisberg; Dorene M Rentz; Perminder S Sachdev; Vincent de la Sayette; Andrew J Saykin; Philip Scheltens; Melanie B Shulman; Melissa J Slavin; Reisa A Sperling; Robert Stewart; Olga Uspenskaya; Bruno Vellas; Pieter Jelle Visser; Michael Wagner Journal: Alzheimers Dement Date: 2014-05-03 Impact factor: 21.566
Authors: Erik Hessen; Marie Eckerström; Arto Nordlund; Ina Selseth Almdahl; Jacob Stålhammar; Maria Bjerke; Carl Eckerström; Mattias Göthlin; Tormod Fladby; Ivar Reinvang; Anders Wallin Journal: Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra Date: 2017-02-02