Balasingham, M. (Mala) (2016) The Flanker test is not suitable to measure response inhibition in Dementia. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility, reliability and validity of an adapted version of the Flanker test to measure response inhibition in patients with dementia. A paper and computer version of the Flanker test were developed and their properties were compared. Methods: twenty-six people with dementia were included in this study. The paper and computer version of the Flanker test were performed twice with one week between the measurements. The Flanker test consisted of three conditions, a congruent condition (→→→→→), an incongruent condition (←←→←←) and a combined condition with congruent and incongruent trials. Participants had to point out the direction of the middle arrow and they got 45 seconds to complete as many trials as possible. The number of trials performed and accuracy were the dependent variables of interest. The MMSE and the Stroop test were performed once. Results: One participant was not able to perform the paper and computer Flanker test, because he did not understand the instructions. It did not take much time to administer the test (5-10 min.) and there were no negative side effects. However, at test about 60% of the participants had an accuracy score under 0.7. At retest this was 50%. For these people it could be doubted whether they understood the instructions. The ICC revealed fair to high test-retest reliability for total number of trials completed on all conditions (0.839- 0.919). Poor reliability was found for accuracy (0,013-0.383) and for all interference scores (0.093-0.622). The flanker test had fair to poor validity with the MMSE and Stroop scores (0.026- 0.577). Only the total number of trials completed on the congruent computer version had a high correlation with the color version of the Stroop test (r= 0.709). Conclusion: The Flanker test is insufficient feasible, reliable and valid in people with dementia. Only the number of trials completed is reliable and can be used, but then the test does not measure response inhibition. In general, the Flanker test is not suitable to measure response inhibition in elderly with dementia. The test is not better than other measures that intend to measure response inhibition. The computer version was a bit more reliable and valid, although differences were small. But based on feasibility, if it is within your budget and computers are available, the computer version is preferred above the paper version, but keep in mind that it probably does not measure response inhibition. For future research another test should be created or adjusted that measures response inhibition and is feasible, reliable and valid in people with dementia.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Heuvelen, M.J.G. van and Sanders, L.M.J. and Bossers, W.J.R. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Apr 2022 09:51 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Apr 2022 09:51 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3122 |
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