Psychometric validation of Fuld Object Memory Evaluation in older adults with cognitive impairments

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) refers to an early but abnormal state of cognitive impairment with minimal functional impairment. The present study aimed to evaluate the validity of Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME) as a measure of episodic memory function.

Method: The study sample included 204 Chinese older adults with cognitive impairments. The participants completed five recall trials and a delayed trial in FOME, neurocognitive measures on digit spans and trail making, and daily functioning. Discriminative power of FOME to differentiate between MCI and dementia was inspected via receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Results: FOME showed good test-retest reliability and convergent validity with digit spans and trail making. Controlling for gender, age, and education, lower levels of FOME total retrieval, verbal fluency, and daily functioning significantly predicted a higher likelihood of dementia compared to MCI. The optimal cut-off scores for total retrieval, verbal fluency, and daily functioning to differentiate dementia were 37/38 (77% sensitivity and 83% specificity), 28/29 (85% sensitivity and 72% specificity), and 14/15 (92% sensitivity and 78% specificity), respectively, in the younger subgroup. The corresponding figures were 34/35 (69% sensitivity and 76% specificity) and 27/28 (92% sensitivity and 62% specificity), and 11/12 (74% sensitivity and 80% specificity), respectively, in the older subgroup.

Conclusion: The findings support the FOME as a valid assessment tool of episodic memory function in older Chinese adults. The combined use of FOME and daily functioning is recommended to distinguish persons with dementia from MCI.

KEYWORDS:

• Classification
• dementia
• episodic memory
• instrumental activities of daily living
• mild cognitive impairment

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their thanks to Mr. Jacob Cheung, Mr. Joshua Yau, Ms. Bing-yu Li, and Ms. Caitlin Chan for their help with data collection, the staff of the elderly centres for their assistance with study coordination, and the elderly for their valuable participation in this study . The corresponding author would like to thank Mr. Ryder Chan for his critical review of the manuscript and advice on data analysis.

Disclosure statement

All of the authors have no financial conflicts of interests or other disclosures to report.

Underlying research materials

The dataset and syntax used in this study can be obtained from the corresponding author upon email request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the General Research Fund, Hong Kong Research Grants Council [grant number : GRF/HKU17402714]. The Research Grants Council was not involved in study design, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, in the writing of the article, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.