Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

Spring 5-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Cherisse Flanagan

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

David McAnulty

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Scott Perkins

Abstract

The need for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease has been well established in previous literature. As technology has spread across all professional fields, computerized screening instruments for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease have begun to draw attention. Research has noted that computerized screeners of dementia should be implemented in primary care physician offices, as the majority of elderly persons see their PCP more frequently than other health professionals. Specifically, self-administered computerized screening instruments that have acceptable psychometric sturdiness are needed for these offices. GrayMatters is a self-administered computerized screening measure that has previously been shown to have acceptable reliability and validity. The aim of this study was to reevaluate the concurrent validity of GrayMatters. Reevaluation was needed in order to compare GrayMatters to the Wechsler Memory Scale-IV, rather than the Wechsler Memory Scale-III as previous research had done, and due to population changes over time. In order to evaluate the concurrent validity of GrayMatters, archival data from 149 female participants and 102 male participants was gathered from the Texas Neuropsychology Clinic. Data sets included participants GrayMatters scores, Wechsler Memory Scale-IV scores, Mini-Mental Status Examination scores, Trailmaking A and B scores, Boston Verbal Fluency Test scores, as well as the participant’s age, gender, race, and level of education. GrayMatters scores were compared to scores from the WMS-IV, MMSE, Trailmaking A and B, and Boston Verbal Fluency Test in order to examine concurrent validity. Results indicate that GrayMatters scores were compatible with scores from all previously mentioned measures. These findings are important because they indicate that GrayMatters can be used as a screening instrument of Alzheimer’s disease that can be used to measure cognitive impairment and guide decisions regarding patient care.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.