Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, PO Box 4066, Alice Springs, NT, 0871, Australia.
Alice Springs Hospital, PO Box 2234, Alice Springs, NT, 0871, Australia.
BMC Psychol. 2017 Aug 2;5(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s40359-017-0195-y.
Reliable cognitive assessment for Indigenous Australians is difficult given that mainstream tests typically rely on Western concepts, content and values. A test's psychometric properties should therefore be assessed prior to use in other cultures. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the reliability and acceptability of four cognitive tests for Australian Aboriginal people.
Participants were 40 male and 44 female (N = 84) Aboriginal patients from Alice Springs Hospital. Four tests were assessed for reliability and acceptability - Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Screen (RUDAS) (n = 19), PEBL Corsi Blocks (Corsi) (n = 19), Story Memory Recall Test (SMRT) (n = 17) and a CogState battery (n = 18). Participants performed one to three of the tests with repeated assessment to determine test-retest reliability. Qualitative interviews were conducted and analysed based on an adapted phenomenological approach to explore test acceptability. An Indigenous Reference Group gave advice and guidance.
Intra-class correlations (ICC) for test retest reliability ranged from r = 0.58 (CogState One Back accuracy) to 0.86 (RUDAS). Themes emerged relating to general impressions, impacts on understanding and performance, appropriateness, task preferences and suggested improvements.
RUDAS, CogState Identification task, and SMRT showed the highest reliabilities. Overall the tests were viewed as a positive challenge and an opportunity to learn about the brain despite provoking some anxiety in the patients. Caveats for test acceptability included issues related to language, impacts of convalescence and cultural relevance.
由于主流测试通常依赖于西方概念、内容和价值观，因此对于澳大利亚原住民来说，进行可靠的认知评估是困难的。因此，在其他文化中使用之前，应评估测试的心理测量特性。本初步研究的目的是检验四项用于澳大利亚原住民的认知测试的可靠性和可接受性。
参与者为来自爱丽丝泉医院的 40 名男性和 44 名女性（N=84）土著患者。评估了四项测试的可靠性和可接受性：罗林斯通用痴呆评估筛查（RUDAS）（n=19）、PEBL 科西方块（Corsi）（n=19）、故事记忆回忆测试（SMRT）（n=17）和 CogState 电池（n=18）。参与者进行了一到三次测试，重复评估以确定测试-重测可靠性。进行了定性访谈，并根据经过改编的现象学方法进行了分析，以探索测试的可接受性。一个土著参考小组提供了建议和指导。
测试重测可靠性的组内相关系数（ICC）范围为 r=0.58（CogState 单次记忆准确性）至 0.86（RUDAS）。出现的主题涉及总体印象、对理解和表现的影响、适当性、任务偏好和建议改进。
RUDAS、CogState 识别任务和 SMRT 显示出最高的可靠性。尽管这些测试会引发一些患者的焦虑，但总体上被视为一种积极的挑战和了解大脑的机会。测试可接受性的注意事项包括与语言、康复影响和文化相关性相关的问题。
