J Clin Neurol.  2013 Apr;9(2):111-117. 10.3988/jcn.2013.9.2.111.

Reliability and Validity of the Short Form of the Literacy-Independent Cognitive Assessment in the Elderly

• Kim J
• Jeong JH
• Han SH
• Ryu HJ
• Lee JY
• Ryu SH
• Lee DW
• Shim YS
• Choi SH

• KMID: 2179170
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3988/jcn.2013.9.2.111

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The Literacy-Independent Cognitive Assessment (LICA) has been developed for a diagnosis of dementia and is a useful neuropsychological test battery for illiterate populations as well as literate populations. The objective of this study was to develop the short form of the LICA (S-LICA) and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the S-LICA.
METHODS
The subtests of the S-LICA were selected based on the factor analysis and validation study results of the LICA. Patients with dementia (n=101) and normal elderly controls (n=185) participated in this study.
RESULTS
Cronbach's coefficient alpha of the S-LICA was 0.92 for illiterate subjects and 0.94 for literate subjects, and the item-total correlation ranged from 0.63 to 0.81 (p<.01).The test-retest reliability of the S-LICA total score was high (r=0.94, p<.001), and the subtests had high test-retest reliabilities (r=0.68-0.87, p<.01). The correlation between the K-MMSE and S-LICA total scores were substantial in both the illiterate subjects (r=0.837, p<.001) and the literate subjects(r=0.802, p<.001). The correlation between the S-LICA and LICA was very high (r=0.989, p<.001). The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic was 0.999 for the literate subjects and 0.985 for the illiterate subjects. The sensitivity and specificity of the S-LICA for a diagnosis of dementia were 97% and 96% at the cutoff point of 72 for the literate subjects, and 96% and 93% at the cutoff point of 68 for the illiterate subjects, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that the S-LICA is a reliable and valid instrument for quick evaluation of patients with dementia in both illiterate and literate elderly populations.

Keyword

illiteracy; dementia; sensitivity; specificity

MeSH Terms

Aged
Dementia
Literacy
Humans
Neuropsychological Tests
Reproducibility of Results
ROC Curve
Sensitivity and Specificity

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Study profile.

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  Fig. 2 The receiver operating characteristic curves of the S-LICA used to make a diagnosis of dementia in the illiterate (A) and literate (B) subjects. S-LICA: short form of the Literacy-Independent Cognitive Assessment.

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