Relation of cognitive functioning to daily living skills in a geriatric population

A modified version of the Community Competence Scale was administered along with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised (WAIS--R) to 40 geriatric patients with suspected dementia. Scores on the Competence Scale, a measure of functional daily living skills, were correlated .72 with Full Scale IQs and .77 with Verbal IQs and moderately correlated (.55) with Performance IQs. A number of significant correlations were found between WAIS--R subtests and subscales of the competence instrument. Means and standard deviations for the 10 Competence subscale and total scores are presented.