Robustness of the TOPF in estimating premorbid IQ in dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessing the robustness of the Test of Premorbid Function (TOPF)in estimating premorbid intelligence in Alzheimer's and Vascular dementias
IRAS ID
159617
Contact name
Jon Evans
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 20 days
Research summary
When assessing a person who may have dementia it is important to have an estimate of their previous level of ability to compare with current functioning in order to determine whether they have deteriorated, and therefore may have dementia. Reading tests are commonly used to estimate pre-morbid intelligence as they are considered to be unaffected by dementia, at least in the early stages. However, some evidence suggests that such reading tests may be affected and if so they may underestimate pre-morbid ability leading to inaccurate conclusions regarding any deterioration. Demographic equations based on factors such as age, education and socio-economic status have also been used for this purpose.
This study will explore whether a new reading test (the Test of Premorbid Functioning; TOPF) is able to accurately estimate intelligence levels or whether dementia impacts on its ability to do this. TOPF estimates of intelligence will be compared with two other methods – the Spot the Word Test (STW) and a demographic equation based method. STW involves comparing pairs of words, one which is a real word and one is a nonsense word, and identifying the real word. In addition the performance of people who have a dementia (Alzheimer’s or Vascular) will be compared with a healthy control group who are matched on demographic variables.
Patients who attend NHS services for dementia care, and their spouses, will be invited to participate. They will be classified into groups according to their results on a dementia screening test. Those scoring below a specified cut-off will constitute the “dementia group”, and spouses scoring above the cut-off will form the comparison group.
The results of this study will inform clinicians on the usefulness of different methods of estimating intelligence and help shape how these methods will be used with patients in dementia assessment.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
14/WS/1144
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion