Validation and reliability study of the Turkish version of the everyday cognition-12 (T-ECog) scale

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the activities of daily living (ADL) is important in cognitive impairment. The everyday cognition scale includes 12 items (ECog-12). It evaluates complex ADLs and executive functions. This scale can differentiate healthy elderly people from patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as well as MCI from dementia patients. Our aim is to validate a Turkish version of ECog-12. METHODS: The study group consisted of 40 healthy elders, 40 patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and 40 patients with MCI. In addition to T-ECog-12, test-your memory-Turkish version (TYM-TR), Geriatric Dementia Scale (GDS), the Blessed orientation-memory-concentration (BOMC), and Katz ADL tests were administered to all participants for concurrent validity. RESULTS: Cronbach’s alpha test showed excellent internal consistency (0.93). When T-ECog-12 was compared to the other tests, strong positive correlations were found between the GDS and BOMC; in addition, strong negative correlations were found between Katz ADL and TYM-TR scale. ECog-12 was found to be sensitive in differentiating healthy individuals from individuals with dementia (AD and MCI) (Area under the curve [AUC]=0.82, Cl=0.74–0.89). It was found to have low sensitivity in discriminating between MCI and healthy individuals (AUC=0.52, Cl=0.42–0.63). CONCLUSION: T-ECog-12 was found to be reliable and valid for Turkish population. This scale is reliable and effective in diagnostic distinguishing healthy individuals from dementia.