Objective To develop the Non-
Language-Based Cognitive Assessment (NLCA) applicable to
patients with
aphasia and to validate the
reliability and validity of NLCA.
Methods Seventy-three normal subjects and 32
patients with
mild cognitive impairment were evaluated by the NLCA and the Mini-Mental
State Examination.Forty subjects were randomly selected from the normal subject samples were assessed with the NLCA,the Auditory
Verbal Learning Test,the
Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (Form A),the Stroop
Color-Word Interference Test,the
Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (Part A),and the WAIS Digit Span Test.Results The NLCA had high inter-rater agreement (Cronbach's α coefficient 0.836),reliability among the assessors 0.895-0.953,
test-retest reliability 0.863-0.952 at at a 2-6 week interval.The years of
education was significantly correlated with NLCA (r =0.852,r < 0.01).When the Montreal Cognitive Assessment was used as diagnostic criteria,the area under the
receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.899 (95%
confidence interval 0.827-0.972).When cutoff at 70,the NLCA had had high
sensitivity,
specificity,
positive predictive value and
negative predictive value in the identification of
patients with
mild cognitive impairment.Conclusions The NLCA has good
reliability and validity.It is an effective
cognitive function assessment that meets the basic requirements of the
neuropsychological tests.