Assessing Specific Cognitive Deficits Associated with Dementia in Older Adults with Down Syndrome: Use and Validity of the Arizona Cognitive Test Battery (ACTB)

Down syndrome is associated with specific cognitive deficits. Alongside this, older adults with Down syndrome are a high risk group for dementia. The Arizona Cognitive Test Battery (ACTB), a cognitive assessment battery specifically developed for use with individuals with Down syndrome, has been pro...

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Published in:PloS one Vol. 11; no. 5; p. e0153917
Main Authors: Sinai, Amanda, Hassiotis, Angela, Rantell, Khadija, Strydom, Andre
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 12.05.2016
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Adults
Age
Aged
Biology and Life Sciences
Clinical trials
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition Disorders - complications
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cognition Disorders - physiopathology
Cognitive ability
Cognitive disorders
Complications and side effects
Dementia
Dementia - complications
Dementia - diagnosis
Dementia - physiopathology
Dementia disorders
Demography
Diagnosis
Down syndrome
Down Syndrome - complications
Down Syndrome - diagnosis
Down Syndrome - physiopathology
Down's syndrome
Female
Frailty
Humans
Intellectual disabilities
Intelligence tests
Latency
Learning
Learning disabilities
Male
Medical research
Medicine and Health Sciences
Memory
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Older people
People and Places
Population
Prognosis
Psychiatry
Psychological aspects
Ratings
Reaction time
Reaction time task
Reproducibility of Results
Risk factors
Sensorimotor integration
Social research
Social Sciences
Statistical analysis
England
ISSN:1932-6203, 1932-6203
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Down syndrome is associated with specific cognitive deficits. Alongside this, older adults with Down syndrome are a high risk group for dementia. The Arizona Cognitive Test Battery (ACTB), a cognitive assessment battery specifically developed for use with individuals with Down syndrome, has been proposed for use as outcome measures for clinical trials in this population. It has not been validated in older adults with Down syndrome. This study aims to assess the use and validity of the ACTB in older adults with Down syndrome. Participants with Down syndrome aged 45 and over were assessed using the ACTB, standard tabletop tests and informant ratings. Assessment outcomes of 49 participants were analysed. Of these, 19 (39%) had a diagnosis of dementia or possible dementia. Most participants were able to attempt most of the tasks, although some tasks had high floor effects (including CANTAB Intra-Extra Dimensional shift stages completed and Modified Dots Task). Of the ACTB tasks, statistically significant differences were observed between the dementia and no dementia groups on CANTAB Simple Reaction Time median latency, NEPSY Visuomotor Precision-Car and Motorbike and CANTAB Paired Associates Learning stages completed. No significant differences were observed for CANTAB Intra-Extra Dimensional Shift, Modified Dots Task, Finger Sequencing, NEPSY Visuomotor precision-Train and Car and CANTAB Paired Associates Learning first trial memory score. Several of the tasks in the ACTB can be used in older adults with Down syndrome and have mild to moderate concurrent validity when compared to tabletop tests and informant ratings, although this varies on a test by test basis. Overall, scores for a number of tests in the ACTB were similar when comparing dementia and no dementia groups of older adults with Down syndrome, suggesting that it would not be an appropriate outcome measure of cognitive function for clinical trials of dementia treatments without further modification and validation.
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Competing Interests: A. Sinai was awarded a travel scholarship by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Academic Faculty to visit the Down Syndrome Research Group, Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona. A. Sinai and A. Strydom have acted as investigators for Roche Pharmaceuticals. These interests do not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Conceived and designed the experiments: A. Sinai AH KR A. Strydom. Performed the experiments: A. Sinai. Analyzed the data: A. Sinai KR A. Strydom. Wrote the paper: A. Sinai AH KR A. Strydom.
Current address: Sheba Medical Centre, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0153917