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Reliability and validity of the behavioural assessment scale
Abstractsfrom the 17thAnnualMeeting
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Iverson,G. L., & Haley,G. Reliability and Validity of the Behavioral Assessment Scale.
The Behavioral AssessmentScale (BAS), also known as the Echelle Comportment et Adaptation(Ritchie& Ledesert, 1991),was designedto assess changesin adaptivefunctioningin elderlypersonswith severecognitiveimpairment.The BAS is a 32-itemnursing ratingscaleconsistingof fivesubscales.Weexaminedthe basicreliabilityand validityof the BAS in a sampleof 275 elderlypersonswith neuropsychiatricdisorderssevere enoughto warrantlong-termcare in a provincialpsychiatricfacilityin Canada.The internalconsistency of the BAS was estimatedwith alphacoefficients.The alphacoeftlcientsfor the total scale and the five subscaleswereas follows:Language= .90,SocialIntegration= .65,Occupation and Orientation= .68,PhysicalIndependence=.95,Mobility=.66,andtotalscore= .96.The BAS was positivelycorrelatedwith the patients’MiniMentalStateExam(MMSE)scores (r = .75) and their DSM-IVGlobalAssessmentof FunctioningScale scores (r= .78). Importantly,the BAS was useful for differentiatinglevels of adaptivebehaviorin persons who obtainedscoresof zero on the MMSE.The BAS is a useful clinicaltool for personswith severecognitiveimpairmentwho are not testablewith standardneuropsychologicalprocedures. Anderson,J., Wong,J. L., & Madson,J. Estimated Premorbid Intellectual Ability in Moderate to Severe Dementia and Concurrent Validity of Measures of Dementia Severity.
Recentresearchhas documentedthe validityand utilityof the MattisDementiaRatingScale (DRS)in identifyingand stagingAlzheimer’sdementia(AD).In contrast,sightwordreading abilityhas been shownto remainrelativelyintactuntil the late stagesof AD. Consequently, researchershave positedthat althoughthe NationalAdult ReadingTest-Revised(NART-R) maybe a relativelymorestableindicatorof premorbidcognitiveabilitythanothercommonly used neuropsychologicalmeasures,includingthe WAIS-Rsubtests,the accuracyof NARTR-basedestimatesof premorbidIQ couldbe expectedto declinewith escalatingseventy of dementia.The purpose of the current study was twofold: (1) to compare predictionsof premorbidVerbalIQ derivedfromthe NART-RscoreversustheWAIS-RVocabularysubtest score versusBaronaet al.’s demographically-based equationin care facilityresidentswith moderateto severeAD (n = 12, age = 81.4, education= 13.9, DRS = 54.2); and (2) to examinethe concurrentvalidityof the DRS, NART-R,and WAIS-RVocabularysubtestin assessingdementiaseverity.Consistentwith previousresearch,predictionsof VIQ from the WAIS-RVocabularySubtest(WAIS-RVIQ = 57.7, SD = 11.2)substantiallyunderestimated a priori expectationsof premorbidVIQ based on data collectedfrom a control group of subjects’spouseswho werenot suspectedof havingdementia(n = 3, DRS = 139.0,WAIS-R VIQ = 100.0).Additionally,the NART-RunderestimatedVIQ comparedto demographicallybasedpredictions(NART-R= 91.0,SD= 9.1,D-VIQ= 108.0,SD = 4.6,p < .0001),although both scoresfell withinthe “average”range.A mediansplitof the samplebasedon DRS total scorerevealedthat althoughthe NART-Runderestimatedthe demographically-derived VIQ in bothgroups,thediscrepancywas significantlygreaterin themoreimpairedgroup.In terms of concurrentvalidity,the WAIS-RVocabularysubtestand four of the five DRS subscales correlated negatively(p < .05) with stage of dementia, using Reisberg et al.’s Global DeteriorationScale ratings as the criterionvariable.The correlationbetween the NART-R scoreand stageof dementiaapproachedsignificance(p = .08),but the NART-RandWAIS-R Vocabularyscores were not correlated (p = .55). Overall, results support the concurrent validityof theDRSin distinguishingbetweenlevelsof cognitiveimpairmentin moderateand severedementia,and suggestthatforthispopulation,theNART-Rbeginsto providean index of cognitivedecline.The discrepancybetween demographically-basedpredictionsof pre-
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Iverson,G. L., & Haley,G. Reliability and Validity of the Behavioral Assessment Scale.
The Behavioral AssessmentScale (BAS), also known as the Echelle Comportment et Adaptation(Ritchie& Ledesert, 1991),was designedto assess changesin adaptivefunctioningin elderlypersonswith severecognitiveimpairment.The BAS is a 32-itemnursing ratingscaleconsistingof fivesubscales.Weexaminedthe basicreliabilityand validityof the BAS in a sampleof 275 elderlypersonswith neuropsychiatricdisorderssevere enoughto warrantlong-termcare in a provincialpsychiatricfacilityin Canada.The internalconsistency of the BAS was estimatedwith alphacoefficients.The alphacoeftlcientsfor the total scale and the five subscaleswereas follows:Language= .90,SocialIntegration= .65,Occupation and Orientation= .68,PhysicalIndependence=.95,Mobility=.66,andtotalscore= .96.The BAS was positivelycorrelatedwith the patients’MiniMentalStateExam(MMSE)scores (r = .75) and their DSM-IVGlobalAssessmentof FunctioningScale scores (r= .78). Importantly,the BAS was useful for differentiatinglevels of adaptivebehaviorin persons who obtainedscoresof zero on the MMSE.The BAS is a useful clinicaltool for personswith severecognitiveimpairmentwho are not testablewith standardneuropsychologicalprocedures. Anderson,J., Wong,J. L., & Madson,J. Estimated Premorbid Intellectual Ability in Moderate to Severe Dementia and Concurrent Validity of Measures of Dementia Severity.
Recentresearchhas documentedthe validityand utilityof the MattisDementiaRatingScale (DRS)in identifyingand stagingAlzheimer’sdementia(AD).In contrast,sightwordreading abilityhas been shownto remainrelativelyintactuntil the late stagesof AD. Consequently, researchershave positedthat althoughthe NationalAdult ReadingTest-Revised(NART-R) maybe a relativelymorestableindicatorof premorbidcognitiveabilitythanothercommonly used neuropsychologicalmeasures,includingthe WAIS-Rsubtests,the accuracyof NARTR-basedestimatesof premorbidIQ couldbe expectedto declinewith escalatingseventy of dementia.The purpose of the current study was twofold: (1) to compare predictionsof premorbidVerbalIQ derivedfromthe NART-RscoreversustheWAIS-RVocabularysubtest score versusBaronaet al.’s demographically-based equationin care facilityresidentswith moderateto severeAD (n = 12, age = 81.4, education= 13.9, DRS = 54.2); and (2) to examinethe concurrentvalidityof the DRS, NART-R,and WAIS-RVocabularysubtestin assessingdementiaseverity.Consistentwith previousresearch,predictionsof VIQ from the WAIS-RVocabularySubtest(WAIS-RVIQ = 57.7, SD = 11.2)substantiallyunderestimated a priori expectationsof premorbidVIQ based on data collectedfrom a control group of subjects’spouseswho werenot suspectedof havingdementia(n = 3, DRS = 139.0,WAIS-R VIQ = 100.0).Additionally,the NART-RunderestimatedVIQ comparedto demographicallybasedpredictions(NART-R= 91.0,SD= 9.1,D-VIQ= 108.0,SD = 4.6,p < .0001),although both scoresfell withinthe “average”range.A mediansplitof the samplebasedon DRS total scorerevealedthat althoughthe NART-Runderestimatedthe demographically-derived VIQ in bothgroups,thediscrepancywas significantlygreaterin themoreimpairedgroup.In terms of concurrentvalidity,the WAIS-RVocabularysubtestand four of the five DRS subscales correlated negatively(p < .05) with stage of dementia, using Reisberg et al.’s Global DeteriorationScale ratings as the criterionvariable.The correlationbetween the NART-R scoreand stageof dementiaapproachedsignificance(p = .08),but the NART-RandWAIS-R Vocabularyscores were not correlated (p = .55). Overall, results support the concurrent validityof theDRSin distinguishingbetweenlevelsof cognitiveimpairmentin moderateand severedementia,and suggestthatforthispopulation,theNART-Rbeginsto providean index of cognitivedecline.The discrepancybetween demographically-basedpredictionsof pre-