The Erlangen Instrument of Alternating Word Fluency in Dementia (EAWF-D)

Abstract

The Erlangen Instrument of Alternating Word Fluency in Dementia (EAWF-D) is a new alternating word fluency task that combines set-shifting and semantic word fluency based on psycholinguistic theory that the ability to switch between two different semantic categories should already be impaired in beginning dementia. N = 138 (58.7% female; age: M = 73.9; SD = 7.03) outpatients of a memory clinic were diagnosed according to the ICD-10 criteria: subjective memory complainers (N = 60), mild cognitive impairment (N = 37), and mild to moderate dementia (N = 41). An analysis of variance of the EAWF-D revealed a significant main effect of diagnosis (F(2, 135) = 46.7; p < .001; η² = .41). The EAWF-D score correlates significantly with the MMSE total score (r = .54, p < .001) as well as with MMSE subscores “Orientation” (r = .41, p < .001) and “Recall” (r = .53, p < .001). Ordinal logistic regression analysis confirmed the potential for diagnosis of beginning dementia.