The Computerized Functional Skills Assessment and Training Program: Sensitivity to Global Cognitive Impairment, Correlations With Cognitive Abilities, and Factor Structure

Abstract

Objectives: We evaluated a novel computer-based functional skills assessment and training (CFSAT) program, which includes ecologically valid simulations of six everyday technology-related tasks. In this report, we describe the psychometric properties of the assessment in terms of sensitivity to impairment, factor structure and correlations with cognitive performance. Design: Cross-sectional baseline assessment prior to a treatment study. Participants: Noncognitively impaired older adults (n = 62) and cognitively impaired older adults (n = 55), that ranged in age from 60 to 86 years (M = 73.12), was primarily female (90%), and ethnically diverse (21% Hispanic, 52% African American). Participants were divided at baseline on the basis of MOCA scores and cognitive complaints. Measurements: The Brief Assessment of Cognition (BAC), app version, was used to measure cognitive performance and completion times on the six subtasks of the CFAST constituted the functional capacity measures. Results: Performance on the CFSAT and BAC discriminated the two cognitive status groups. All of the cognitive domains on the BAC correlated significantly with all six CFSAT subtasks (all p