Performance of a Short Version of the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog-12) to Detect Cognitive Impairment

The Everyday Cognition (ECog) 12-item scale, a functional decline measurement, can distinguish dementia from cognitively unimpaired (CU). Limited data compare ECog-12 performance by raters (self vs. informant) and scoring systems (average numeric vs. categorical grouping) to differentiate cognitive statuses.

To evaluate the performance of ECog-12 in differentiation cognitive statuses.

A cross-sectional diagnostic test study.

Data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study are analyzed. Participants were aged 55-90 years old divided into subgroups based on diagnostic criteria.

We evaluated ECog-12 performance across different diagnostic groups, such as CU vs cognitive impairment (CI; mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia), and the association between ECog-12 and CI. This procedure was repeated for self- and partner (informant)-reports. Additionally, types of ECog scores were also assessed, where an average ECog score was calculated (continuous numeric) as well as a categorical grouping ("any occasional declined" or "any consistently declined") based on item-level responses to ECog questions.

ECog-12 cut-off scores of 1.36 (self-reported) and 1.45 (partner-reported) distinguish CU from CI with AUC 0.7 and 0.78, respectively. Adding a memory-concern question improved self-reported-ECog AUC to 0.79. Self- and partner-reported "consistently-declined" ECog-12 categorical grouping provided AUC 0.69 and 0.78. The study partner reported ECog-12 showed a greater association with CI than self-reported, with odds ratios of 35.45 and 8.79, respectively.

Study partner-reported ECog scores performed better than self-reported ECog-12 in differentiating cognitive statuses, and a higher study partner reported ECog score was a higher prognostic risk for CI. A memory concern question could enhance self-reported ECog-12 performance. This further emphasizes the need to obtain data from study partners for research and clinical practice.