Using network analysis to validate domains of the modified telephone interview for cognitive status

Quoc Cuong Truong; Matti Cervin; Carol C Choo; Katya Numbers; Adam C Bentvelzen; Alexander G Merkin; Perminder S Sachdev; Valery L Feigin; Henry Brodaty; Nicole A Kochan; Oleg N Medvedev

doi:10.1111/eci.14016

Using network analysis to validate domains of the modified telephone interview for cognitive status

Eur J Clin Invest. 2023 Sep;53(9):e14016. doi: 10.1111/eci.14016. Epub 2023 May 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
² Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
³ College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶ Centre for Precise Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Kaufbeuren, Germany.
⁷ Centre for Precise Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

PMID: 37191060
DOI: 10.1111/eci.14016

Abstract

Background: The modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) is a widely used tool for assessing global cognitive functions and screening for cognitive impairments. The tool was conceptualised to capture various cognitive domains, but the validity of such domains has not been investigated against comprehensive neuropsychological assessments tools. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the associations between the TICS-M domains and neuropsychological domains to evaluate the validity of the TICS-M domains using network analysis.

Materials and methods: A longitudinal research design was used with a large sample of older adults (aged above 70 years; n = 1037 at the baseline assessment) who completed the TICS-M and comprehensive neuropsychological assessments biennially. We applied network analysis to identify unique links between the TICS-M domains and neuropsychological test scores.

Results: At baseline, there were weak internal links between the TICS-M domains. The TICS-M memory and language domains were significantly related to their corresponding neuropsychological domains. The TICS-M attention domain had significant associations with executive function and visuospatial abilities. The TICS-M orientation domain was not significantly associated with any of the five neuropsychological domains. Despite an attrition of almost 50% at wave four, weak internal links between the TICS-M domains and most associations between TICS-M and neuropsychological domains that were found initially, remained stable at least over two waves within the 6-year period.

Conclusions: This study supports the overall structural validity of the TICS-M screener in assessing enduring global cognitive function. However, separate TICS-M cognitive domains should not be considered equivalent to the analogous neuropsychological domains.

Keywords: global cognition; modified telephone interview for cognitive status; network analysis; neuropsychological domains.

MeSH terms

Aged
Cognition
Cognition Disorders* / diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction* / diagnosis
Humans
Neuropsychological Tests
Telephone