Laboratory of Neuropsychological Investigations (LIN), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2013 Dec;25(12):2057-65. doi: 10.1017/S1041610213001282. Epub 2013 Aug 2.
The assessment of visuospatial abilities is usually performed by drawing tasks. In patients with very low formal education, the use of these tasks might be biased by their cultural background. The Stick Design Test was developed for the assessment of this population. We aim to expand the test psychometric properties by assessing its construct, criterion-related and ecological validity in older adults with low formal education.
Healthy older adults (n = 63) and Alzheimer's disease patients (n = 92) performed the Stick Design Test, Mini-Mental State Examination, Digit Span Forward and the Clock Drawing Test. Their caregivers answered Personal Care and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living). Construct validity was assessed by factor analysis, convergent correlations (with the Clock Drawing Test), and divergent correlations (with Digit Span Forward); criterion-related validity by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and binary logistic regression; and Ecological validity by correlations with ADL.
The test factor structure was composed by one component (R 2 = 64%). Significant correlations with the Clock Drawing Test and Digit Span Forward were found, and the relationship was stronger with the first measure. The test was less associated with formal education than the Clock Drawing Test. It classified about 76% of the participants correctly and had and additive effect with the Mini-Mental State Examination (84% of correct classification). The test also correlated significantly with measures of ADL, suggesting ecological validity.
The Stick Design Test shows evidence of construct, criterion-related and ecological validity. It is an interesting alternative to drawing tasks for the assessment of visuospatial abilities.
视空间能力的评估通常通过绘图任务来进行。在受教育程度较低的患者中，这些任务可能会受到其文化背景的影响。为此，开发了 Stick 设计测试来评估该人群的视空间能力。我们旨在通过评估其在受教育程度较低的老年人中的结构、效标关联和生态有效性来扩展该测试的心理测量学特性。
健康老年人（n=63）和阿尔茨海默病患者（n=92）完成了 Stick 设计测试、简易精神状态检查、数字广度正向和画钟测验。他们的照顾者回答了个人护理和工具性日常生活活动。结构效度通过因子分析、与画钟测验的收敛相关性以及与数字广度正向的发散相关性进行评估；效标关联效度通过接受者操作特征曲线分析和二元逻辑回归进行评估；生态有效性通过与日常生活活动的相关性进行评估。
测试的因子结构由一个组成部分组成（R 2=64%）。与画钟测验和数字广度正向有显著相关性，且与前者的相关性更强。与画钟测验相比，该测试与受教育程度的相关性较小。它正确分类了约 76%的参与者，与简易精神状态检查有叠加效应（正确分类的比例为 84%）。该测试与日常生活活动的测量值也显著相关，表明其具有生态有效性。
Stick 设计测试具有结构、效标关联和生态有效性的证据。它是评估视空间能力的绘图任务的一种有趣替代方法。
