Measurement Precision Across Cognitive Domains in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Data Set

• Published in: Neuropsychology 2023-05, Vol.37 (4), p.373-382
• Main Authors: Crane, Paul K., Choi, Seo-Eun, Lee, Michael, Scollard, Phoebe, Sanders, R. Elizabeth, Klinedinst, Brandon, Nakano, Connie, Trittschuh, Emily H., Mez, Jesse, Saykin, Andrew J., Gibbons, Laura E., Wang, Chun, Mungas, Dan, Zhu, Ruoyi, Foldi, Nancy S., Lamar, Melissa, Jutten, Roos, Sikkes, Sietske A. M., Grandoit, Evan, Rabin, Laura A., Jones, Richard N., Tommet, Doug, Mukherjee, Shubhabrata
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - diagnostic imaging; Alzheimer's Disease; Cognition; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnostic imaging; Cognitive Processes; Executive Function; Female; Human; Humans; Male; Measurement; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Neuroimaging; Psychometrics
• ISSN: 0894-4105; 1931-1559
• DOI: 10.1037/neu0000901

Objective: To demonstrate measurement precision of cognitive domains in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) data set. Method: Participants with normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) were included from all ADNI waves. We used data from each person's last study visit to calibrate scores for memory, executive function, language, and visuospatial functioning. We extracted item information functions for each domain and used these to calculate standard errors of measurement. We derived scores for each domain for each diagnostic group and plotted standard errors of measurement for the observed range of scores. Results: Across all waves, there were 961 people with NC, 825 people with MCI, and 694 people with AD at their most recent study visit (data pulled February 25, 2019). Across ADNI's battery there were 34 memory items, 18 executive function items, 20 language items, and seven visuospatial items. Scores for each domain were highest on average for people with NC, intermediate for people with MCI, and lowest for people with AD, with most scores across all groups in the range of −1 to +1. Standard error of measurement in the range from −1 to +1 was highest for memory, intermediate for language and executive functioning, and lowest for visuospatial. Conclusion: Modern psychometric approaches provide tools to help understand measurement precision of the scales used in studies. In ADNI, there are important differences in measurement precision across cognitive domains. Key Points Question: How do ADNI's cognitive domains compare in terms of measurement precision? Findings: Memory is characterized by better measurement precision, and visuospatial by worse measurement precision, with intermediate values for language and executive function, in the range where scores were observed in ADNI. Importance: Measurement properties such as measurement precision may be useful in interpreting findings from ADNI, and may be useful in management of burden/precision trade-offs for researchers designing cognitive assessment approaches. Next Steps: Familiarity with measurement precision issues and metrics may be useful in understanding data from existing studies and in designing cognitive evaluation strategies for future studies.