[Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire: psychometric analysis from the item response theory]

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychometrics
• Gerontology

Background:

• Cognitive reserve (CR) enables better tolerance of brain damage via cognitive resources.
• The Rami CRQ-Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire is a tool for assessing CR.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the informative quality of the CRQ using item response theory (IRT).
• To provide precise data on the internal consistency reliability of the CRQ.
• To test the convergent validity of the CRQ with attention, working memory, and fluency measures.

Main Methods:

• Item response theory (IRT) with a graded response model was applied.
• Discrimination (a) and difficulty (b) parameters were estimated.
• Convergent validity was assessed using correlation analyses with cognitive tests.

Main Results:

• IRT analysis revealed high discrimination for 'Education' and 'Occupation level' items.
• Lower discrimination was found for 'Musical training' and 'Intellectual games' items.
• The CRQ demonstrated greater informational value at lower levels of cognitive reserve and acceptable convergent validity with cognitive tasks.

Conclusions:

• This is the first IRT analysis of the CRQ.
• The CRQ is more reliable when assessing individuals with lower cognitive reserve.
• The CRQ exhibits acceptable convergent validity.