Determination of normative criteria and validation of the SKT for use in Spanish-speaking populations.

Abstract

Most of the tests, questionnaires, and neuropsychological batteries for the assessment of dementia have been translated and adapted for use in the Hispanic population without having normative data, which results in a high number of false positives when age and educational level are not considered. The Short Cognitive Performance Test (SKT) is a psychometric instrument evaluating memory and attention deficits that has been developed and standardized in Germany (Erzigkeit, 1989a, 1989b). The objective of this study was to adapt the SKT, to establish normative criteria that take into consideration age and educational level, and to establish its concurrent validity in comparison to other neuropsychological tests: Brief Neuropsychological Evaluation for Spanish-Speaking Subjects (Ostrosky-Solis et al., 1994), the Mini-Mental State Examination (Folstein et al., 1975), and the Blessed Functional Scale (Blessed et al., 1968) in 238 neurologically intact subjects and 97 subjects with mild to moderate dementia. The SKT showed adequate sensitivity (80.5%) and specificity (80.3%) in subjects with medium and high educational level; however, the sensitivity and specificity diminished (75% and 56.7%) in subjects with no education or low educational level. The adapted and validated version of the SKT in the Mexican population has been shown to be a psychometric instrument that in subjects with medium educational level can detect cognitive alterations and is able to determine the severity of deterioration; however, in subjects with low educational level and severe dementia, the SKT cannot be usefully administered.