Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) have received little research attention a... more Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) have received little research attention and have been studied in conjunction with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The present study intends to broaden the knowledge on BIF, by analyzing domains such as verbal memory and visual memory, as well as tasks that rely simultaneously on memory, executive functions and language. A cross-sectional, comparison study was carried out between a group of 40 children with BIF (mean age = 10.03; 24 male and 16 female), and a control group of 40 normal children of the same age, gender and socioeconomic level as the BIF group. The WISC-III Full Scale IQs of the BIF group ranged from 71 to 84. The following instruments were used: Word List, Narrative Memory, Rey Complex Figure, Face Memory, Rapid Naming (both RAN and RAS tests) and Verbal Fluency. The results showed deficits in children with BIF in verbal short-term memory, rapid naming, phonemic verbal fluency and visual short-term memory, specifically in a visual recognition task, when compared with the control group. Long-term verbal memory was impaired only in older children with BIF and long-term visual memory showed no deficit. Verbal short term memory stands out as a limitation and visual long term memory as a strength. Correlations between the WISC-III and neuropsychological tests scores were predominantly low. The study expands the neuropsychological characterization of children with BIF and the implications of the deficits and strengths are stressed.
adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente... more adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente, Psicológico, Aspectos espirituais e Autonomia; os cuidadores referem dimensões de Autonomia, Saúde, Ambiente e Relações sociais; e os profi ssionais destacam Saúde, Nível de independência, Ambiente e Relações sociais. Por todos os grupos foi apontada a dimensão "Família/Vida familiar", que poderá constituir-se como uma nova faceta do módulo WHOQOL-OLD português.
Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación - e Avaliação Psicológica, 2014
adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente... more adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente, Psicológico, Aspectos espirituais e Autonomia; os cuidadores referem dimensões de Autonomia, Saúde, Ambiente e Relações sociais; e os profi ssionais destacam Saúde, Nível de independência, Ambiente e Relações sociais. Por todos os grupos foi apontada a dimensão "Família/Vida familiar", que poderá constituir-se como uma nova faceta do módulo WHOQOL-OLD português.
This study analyzed the usefulness of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) in iden... more This study analyzed the usefulness of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) in identifying specific cognitive impairments that are linked to developmental dyslexia (DD) and the diagnostic utility of the most common profiles in a sample of 100 Portuguese children (50 dyslexic and 50 normal readers) between the ages of 8 and 12. Children with DD exhibited significantly lower scores in the Verbal Comprehension Index (except the Vocabulary subtest), Freedom from Distractibility Index (FDI) and Processing Speed Index subtests, with larger effect sizes than normal readers in Information, Arithmetic and Digit Span. The Verbal-Performance IQs discrepancies, Bannatyne pattern and the presence of FDI, ACID and SCAD profiles (full or partial) in the lowest subtests revealed a low diagnostic utility. However, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the optimal cutoff score analyses of the composite ACID, FDI and SCAD profile scores showed moderate accuracy in correctly discriminating dyslexic readers from normal ones. These results suggested that in the context of a comprehensive assessment, the WISC-III provides some useful information about the presence of specific cognitive disabilities in DD.
Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyedit... more Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication. During production and prepress, errors may be discovered that could affect the content. Nota: Esta é uma versão não corrigida do manuscrito do autor que foi aceite para publicação. A cópia, a composição e a revisão das provas serão realizadas neste manuscrito antes da publicação final. Durante a produção e pré-impressão, podem ser descobertos erros/lapsos que podem afetar o conteúdo.
One of the most widely studied hypotheses for cognitive ageing assumes that agerelated effects ca... more One of the most widely studied hypotheses for cognitive ageing assumes that agerelated effects can be explained by a less efficient operation of the executive functions and particularly inhibition. According to this hypothesis executive functions are more susceptible to ageing or are the first to be deteriorated with ageing. The present study examined the neuropsychological profile of young adults and older adults in order to understand whether there is a general deficit in executive functions or any changes in cognition (attention, memory and language abilities) that could contribute to a better understanding of the ageing process. Older adults (N=20; M=63.45, SD=6.21 years old) and young adults (N=20; M=18.95, SD=1.79 years old) participated in the present study. These age groups were matched by gender and estimated intelligence quotient. Participants were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery (including attention, memory, language and executive function measures). Our results indicated that older adults, comparatively to young adults, present: (i) cognitive slowing; (ii) preserved retention and recognition abilities; (iii) preserved naming and comprehension abilities; (iv) preserved selective and divided attention (iv) preserved abstraction and planning; (v) inhibition deficits. Older adults have a greater number of inaccurate responses and require more time to respond accurately than younger adults. However, in some cases, they have a similar or even increased performance than young adults in the neuropsychology tests included in our battery (e.g., the Tower test). This suggest that even some executive functions can be resistant to ageing effects.
Saúde mental nas pessoas mais velhas [Mental health in older people] (pp. 93-108). Lisboa: Lidel ... more Saúde mental nas pessoas mais velhas [Mental health in older people] (pp. 93-108). Lisboa: Lidel Edições Técnicas. 1.1. Introduction Executive functions (EF) are the "director" that drives other cognitive functions in order to evaluate and perform an action (Goldberg, 2001). These functions allow us to be constantly updated in order to organize relevant information. They also help to inhibit irrelevant information. Finally, they allow to make decisions to facilitate the adaptation to new situations or to contexts of greater complexity (Collette, Hogge, Salmon, & Van
impede o desenvolvimento da linguagem de forma esperada (Fresneda & Mendoza, 2005). Nos últimos a... more impede o desenvolvimento da linguagem de forma esperada (Fresneda & Mendoza, 2005). Nos últimos anos, a abordagem da DEL associa-se a um enfoque neuropsicológico, começando a encontrar-se uma associação da DEL a difi culdades neuropsicológicas (Crespo
Episodic memory decline is a major signature of both normal and pathological aging. Many neural r... more Episodic memory decline is a major signature of both normal and pathological aging. Many neural regions have been implicated in the processes subserving both episodic memory and typical aging decline. Here, we demonstrate that the cerebellum is causally involved episodic memory under aging. We show that a 12-day neurostimulation program delivered to the right cerebellum led to improvements in episodic memory performance under healthy aging that long outlast the stimulation period — healthy elderly individuals show episodic memory improvement both immediately after the intervention program and in a 4-month follow-up. These results demonstrate the causal relevance of the cerebellum in processes associated with long-term episodic memory, potentially highlighting its role in regulating and maintaining cognitive processing. Moreover, they point to the importance of non-pharmacological interventions that prevent or diminish cognitive decline in healthy aging.
ObjectivesResearch about decision-making capacity has been growing in the last decades. That rela... more ObjectivesResearch about decision-making capacity has been growing in the last decades. That relates to more concerns regarding patients’ autonomy, and an increase in diseases that can negatively impact capacity. This research aims to: explore perceptions, legal aspects, and assessment procedures related to healthcare decision-making capacity in older adults with cognitive impairment; and study the first version of a new assessment instrument of this capacity.MethodNine focus groups were conducted, including healthcare, law and justice, nursing home professionals, institutionalized older adults, and dwelling older adults. Focus group discussions followed semi-structured interview scripts, specifically developed for each group. After group discussions, the assessment instrument was presented, and participants were asked to evaluate each item relevance and comprehensibility. Qualitative coding of the transcriptions was performed with resource to MAXQDA, using direct content analysis.R...
A Bateria de Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Coimbra (BANC) integra, entre diversos outros instrume... more A Bateria de Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Coimbra (BANC) integra, entre diversos outros instrumentos de avaliação, três testes de consciência fonémica: um teste de eliminação e dois de substituição de fonemas. No presente trabalho, apresentam-se dados relativos às propriedades psicométricas destes testes, designadamente à precisão (consistência interna e estabilidade temporal), à validade de constructo (progressão dos resultados em função da idade e intercorrelações entre os testes), à validade discriminante (diferenciação do desempenho de grupos com e sem problemas de aprendizagem), e à validade concorrente (correlações com testes de inteligência, outros testes da BANC e os resultados escolares dos sujeitos). Os resultados obtidos atestam a adequação psicométrica do teste de eliminação e de um dos testes de substituição, sendo menos favoráveis, em termos de precisão e progressão em função da idade, no que concerne ao outro teste de substituição.Coimbra’s Neuropsychological Assessm...
The cognitive reserve (CR) is widely accepted as the active ability to cope with brain damage, us... more The cognitive reserve (CR) is widely accepted as the active ability to cope with brain damage, using preexisting cognitive and compensatory processes. The common CR proxies used are the number of formal years of education, intelligence quotient (IQ) or premorbid functioning, occupation attainment, and participation in leisure activities. More recently, it has employed the level of literacy and engagement in high-level cognitive demand of professional activities. This study aims to identify and summarize published methodologies to assess the CR quantitatively. We searched for published studies on PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science between September 2018 and September 2021. We only included those studies that characterized the CR assessment methodology. The search strategy identified 1,285 publications, of which 25 were included. Most of the instruments targeted proxies individually. The lack of a gold standard tool that incorporates all proxies and cognitive tests highlights t...
Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación – e Avaliação Psicológica, 2021
Sendo a avaliação psicológica e o recurso a testes atividades identitárias dos psicólogos, estudo... more Sendo a avaliação psicológica e o recurso a testes atividades identitárias dos psicólogos, estudos nacionais e internacionais têm destacado um menor investimento quando se trata de avaliar crianças nos primeiros anos de vida. Esta investigação tem como objetivo caracterizar a utilização de testes e outros instrumentos de avaliação psicológica com crianças com 0-7 anos em Portugal. A amostra é composta por 63 psicólogos que responderam a um inquérito online no âmbito de um estudo mais vasto. A análise dos instrumentos referidos como mais usados permitiu ressaltar que estes são sobretudo testes (e menos inventários) e que a área cognitiva está mais representada do que a socio-emocional, sendo as escalas de Wechsler WISC-III e WPPSI-R e as Escalas de Desenvolvimento Mental de Griffiths os instrumentos mais mencionados. A discussão dos resultados remete para a necessidade de mais investigação no sentido de garantir a qualidade psicométrica dos instrumentos utilizados, e de um forte investimento na formação dos profissionais nesta área.
Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyedit... more Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication. During production and prepress, errors may be discovered that could affect the content. Nota: Esta é uma versão não corrigida do manuscrito do autor que foi aceite para publicação. A cópia, a composição e a revisão das provas serão realizadas neste manuscrito antes da publicação final. Durante a produção e pré-impressão, podem ser descobertos erros/lapsos que podem afetar o conteúdo.
The Toulouse-Piéron Cancelation Test (TP) is a classic psychometric tool for the assessment of se... more The Toulouse-Piéron Cancelation Test (TP) is a classic psychometric tool for the assessment of selective/sustained attention, processing speed and visuo-perceptual abilities. It is commonly used in neurological disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease. It encompasses two main indexes: Work-Efficiency (WE) and Dispersion-Index (DI). The aim of this study is to provide normative scores for the TP in a sample of Portuguese healthy adults. The TP was administered to a convenience sample of 357 cognitively-dwelling subjects aged between [45 and 86] years old, following a standard assessment protocol. The normative scores were adjusted for age and education. Education was the main predictor of TP-WE (R2 = .310), whereas the influence of age on this score was lower (R2 = .191). These two variables explained 50.1% of the variance of the results. Regarding TP-DI, education was also the main predictor of the results (R2 = .039), whereas age was responsible for R2 = .011 and together, they explained 5% of the variance of TP-DI. TP performances are strongly influenced by age and education. This is the first study focused on the establishment of normative data after the age of 45 in the Portuguese population, allowing a reliable assessment in both clinical and research contexts.
Avaliação psicológica, capacidade de condução, pessoas idosas, validade preditiva, métodos de inv... more Avaliação psicológica, capacidade de condução, pessoas idosas, validade preditiva, métodos de investigação.
The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases has been significantly increasing in the last decade... more The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases has been significantly increasing in the last decades, and it is expected to continue to grow. These health disorders can impair patients' decision-making capacity in healthcare. The capacity to make healthcare decisions is a fundamental pillar of informed consent, therefore, it should be carefully assessed. Clinicians' assessment, when not supported by a standardized tool, has revealed to be unreliable, so the recourse to an instrument of capacity assessment is crucial. The present paper aims to identify and summarize published instruments of healthcare decision-making capacity. To do so, a search of peer-reviewed articles in English, Portuguese and Spanish was conducted. A total of eighteen articles, detailing seventeen assessment instruments were selected. Instruments differ on format, structure, assessed abilities and psychometric properties. Likewise, instruments' targeted population also varies, with a few being specifically developed for patients with dementia. Although a high number of instruments were found, there is still no gold standard for healthcare decision-making capacity assessment. The lack of a gold standard highlights the need for more research in this field, as well as an effort to develop guidelines and normative data, in order to improve clinical practices.
Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) have received little research attention a... more Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) have received little research attention and have been studied in conjunction with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The present study intends to broaden the knowledge on BIF, by analyzing domains such as verbal memory and visual memory, as well as tasks that rely simultaneously on memory, executive functions and language. A cross-sectional, comparison study was carried out between a group of 40 children with BIF (mean age = 10.03; 24 male and 16 female), and a control group of 40 normal children of the same age, gender and socioeconomic level as the BIF group. The WISC-III Full Scale IQs of the BIF group ranged from 71 to 84. The following instruments were used: Word List, Narrative Memory, Rey Complex Figure, Face Memory, Rapid Naming (both RAN and RAS tests) and Verbal Fluency. The results showed deficits in children with BIF in verbal short-term memory, rapid naming, phonemic verbal fluency and visual short-term memory, specifically in a visual recognition task, when compared with the control group. Long-term verbal memory was impaired only in older children with BIF and long-term visual memory showed no deficit. Verbal short term memory stands out as a limitation and visual long term memory as a strength. Correlations between the WISC-III and neuropsychological tests scores were predominantly low. The study expands the neuropsychological characterization of children with BIF and the implications of the deficits and strengths are stressed.
adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente... more adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente, Psicológico, Aspectos espirituais e Autonomia; os cuidadores referem dimensões de Autonomia, Saúde, Ambiente e Relações sociais; e os profi ssionais destacam Saúde, Nível de independência, Ambiente e Relações sociais. Por todos os grupos foi apontada a dimensão "Família/Vida familiar", que poderá constituir-se como uma nova faceta do módulo WHOQOL-OLD português.
Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación - e Avaliação Psicológica, 2014
adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente... more adultos idosos destacam Qualidade de vida e saúde geral e dimensões de Relações sociais, Ambiente, Psicológico, Aspectos espirituais e Autonomia; os cuidadores referem dimensões de Autonomia, Saúde, Ambiente e Relações sociais; e os profi ssionais destacam Saúde, Nível de independência, Ambiente e Relações sociais. Por todos os grupos foi apontada a dimensão "Família/Vida familiar", que poderá constituir-se como uma nova faceta do módulo WHOQOL-OLD português.
This study analyzed the usefulness of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) in iden... more This study analyzed the usefulness of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) in identifying specific cognitive impairments that are linked to developmental dyslexia (DD) and the diagnostic utility of the most common profiles in a sample of 100 Portuguese children (50 dyslexic and 50 normal readers) between the ages of 8 and 12. Children with DD exhibited significantly lower scores in the Verbal Comprehension Index (except the Vocabulary subtest), Freedom from Distractibility Index (FDI) and Processing Speed Index subtests, with larger effect sizes than normal readers in Information, Arithmetic and Digit Span. The Verbal-Performance IQs discrepancies, Bannatyne pattern and the presence of FDI, ACID and SCAD profiles (full or partial) in the lowest subtests revealed a low diagnostic utility. However, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the optimal cutoff score analyses of the composite ACID, FDI and SCAD profile scores showed moderate accuracy in correctly discriminating dyslexic readers from normal ones. These results suggested that in the context of a comprehensive assessment, the WISC-III provides some useful information about the presence of specific cognitive disabilities in DD.
Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyedit... more Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication. During production and prepress, errors may be discovered that could affect the content. Nota: Esta é uma versão não corrigida do manuscrito do autor que foi aceite para publicação. A cópia, a composição e a revisão das provas serão realizadas neste manuscrito antes da publicação final. Durante a produção e pré-impressão, podem ser descobertos erros/lapsos que podem afetar o conteúdo.
One of the most widely studied hypotheses for cognitive ageing assumes that agerelated effects ca... more One of the most widely studied hypotheses for cognitive ageing assumes that agerelated effects can be explained by a less efficient operation of the executive functions and particularly inhibition. According to this hypothesis executive functions are more susceptible to ageing or are the first to be deteriorated with ageing. The present study examined the neuropsychological profile of young adults and older adults in order to understand whether there is a general deficit in executive functions or any changes in cognition (attention, memory and language abilities) that could contribute to a better understanding of the ageing process. Older adults (N=20; M=63.45, SD=6.21 years old) and young adults (N=20; M=18.95, SD=1.79 years old) participated in the present study. These age groups were matched by gender and estimated intelligence quotient. Participants were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery (including attention, memory, language and executive function measures). Our results indicated that older adults, comparatively to young adults, present: (i) cognitive slowing; (ii) preserved retention and recognition abilities; (iii) preserved naming and comprehension abilities; (iv) preserved selective and divided attention (iv) preserved abstraction and planning; (v) inhibition deficits. Older adults have a greater number of inaccurate responses and require more time to respond accurately than younger adults. However, in some cases, they have a similar or even increased performance than young adults in the neuropsychology tests included in our battery (e.g., the Tower test). This suggest that even some executive functions can be resistant to ageing effects.
Saúde mental nas pessoas mais velhas [Mental health in older people] (pp. 93-108). Lisboa: Lidel ... more Saúde mental nas pessoas mais velhas [Mental health in older people] (pp. 93-108). Lisboa: Lidel Edições Técnicas. 1.1. Introduction Executive functions (EF) are the "director" that drives other cognitive functions in order to evaluate and perform an action (Goldberg, 2001). These functions allow us to be constantly updated in order to organize relevant information. They also help to inhibit irrelevant information. Finally, they allow to make decisions to facilitate the adaptation to new situations or to contexts of greater complexity (Collette, Hogge, Salmon, & Van
impede o desenvolvimento da linguagem de forma esperada (Fresneda & Mendoza, 2005). Nos últimos a... more impede o desenvolvimento da linguagem de forma esperada (Fresneda & Mendoza, 2005). Nos últimos anos, a abordagem da DEL associa-se a um enfoque neuropsicológico, começando a encontrar-se uma associação da DEL a difi culdades neuropsicológicas (Crespo
Episodic memory decline is a major signature of both normal and pathological aging. Many neural r... more Episodic memory decline is a major signature of both normal and pathological aging. Many neural regions have been implicated in the processes subserving both episodic memory and typical aging decline. Here, we demonstrate that the cerebellum is causally involved episodic memory under aging. We show that a 12-day neurostimulation program delivered to the right cerebellum led to improvements in episodic memory performance under healthy aging that long outlast the stimulation period — healthy elderly individuals show episodic memory improvement both immediately after the intervention program and in a 4-month follow-up. These results demonstrate the causal relevance of the cerebellum in processes associated with long-term episodic memory, potentially highlighting its role in regulating and maintaining cognitive processing. Moreover, they point to the importance of non-pharmacological interventions that prevent or diminish cognitive decline in healthy aging.
ObjectivesResearch about decision-making capacity has been growing in the last decades. That rela... more ObjectivesResearch about decision-making capacity has been growing in the last decades. That relates to more concerns regarding patients’ autonomy, and an increase in diseases that can negatively impact capacity. This research aims to: explore perceptions, legal aspects, and assessment procedures related to healthcare decision-making capacity in older adults with cognitive impairment; and study the first version of a new assessment instrument of this capacity.MethodNine focus groups were conducted, including healthcare, law and justice, nursing home professionals, institutionalized older adults, and dwelling older adults. Focus group discussions followed semi-structured interview scripts, specifically developed for each group. After group discussions, the assessment instrument was presented, and participants were asked to evaluate each item relevance and comprehensibility. Qualitative coding of the transcriptions was performed with resource to MAXQDA, using direct content analysis.R...
A Bateria de Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Coimbra (BANC) integra, entre diversos outros instrume... more A Bateria de Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Coimbra (BANC) integra, entre diversos outros instrumentos de avaliação, três testes de consciência fonémica: um teste de eliminação e dois de substituição de fonemas. No presente trabalho, apresentam-se dados relativos às propriedades psicométricas destes testes, designadamente à precisão (consistência interna e estabilidade temporal), à validade de constructo (progressão dos resultados em função da idade e intercorrelações entre os testes), à validade discriminante (diferenciação do desempenho de grupos com e sem problemas de aprendizagem), e à validade concorrente (correlações com testes de inteligência, outros testes da BANC e os resultados escolares dos sujeitos). Os resultados obtidos atestam a adequação psicométrica do teste de eliminação e de um dos testes de substituição, sendo menos favoráveis, em termos de precisão e progressão em função da idade, no que concerne ao outro teste de substituição.Coimbra’s Neuropsychological Assessm...
The cognitive reserve (CR) is widely accepted as the active ability to cope with brain damage, us... more The cognitive reserve (CR) is widely accepted as the active ability to cope with brain damage, using preexisting cognitive and compensatory processes. The common CR proxies used are the number of formal years of education, intelligence quotient (IQ) or premorbid functioning, occupation attainment, and participation in leisure activities. More recently, it has employed the level of literacy and engagement in high-level cognitive demand of professional activities. This study aims to identify and summarize published methodologies to assess the CR quantitatively. We searched for published studies on PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science between September 2018 and September 2021. We only included those studies that characterized the CR assessment methodology. The search strategy identified 1,285 publications, of which 25 were included. Most of the instruments targeted proxies individually. The lack of a gold standard tool that incorporates all proxies and cognitive tests highlights t...
Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación – e Avaliação Psicológica, 2021
Sendo a avaliação psicológica e o recurso a testes atividades identitárias dos psicólogos, estudo... more Sendo a avaliação psicológica e o recurso a testes atividades identitárias dos psicólogos, estudos nacionais e internacionais têm destacado um menor investimento quando se trata de avaliar crianças nos primeiros anos de vida. Esta investigação tem como objetivo caracterizar a utilização de testes e outros instrumentos de avaliação psicológica com crianças com 0-7 anos em Portugal. A amostra é composta por 63 psicólogos que responderam a um inquérito online no âmbito de um estudo mais vasto. A análise dos instrumentos referidos como mais usados permitiu ressaltar que estes são sobretudo testes (e menos inventários) e que a área cognitiva está mais representada do que a socio-emocional, sendo as escalas de Wechsler WISC-III e WPPSI-R e as Escalas de Desenvolvimento Mental de Griffiths os instrumentos mais mencionados. A discussão dos resultados remete para a necessidade de mais investigação no sentido de garantir a qualidade psicométrica dos instrumentos utilizados, e de um forte investimento na formação dos profissionais nesta área.
Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyedit... more Note: This is an uncorrected version of an author's manuscript accepted for publication. Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication. During production and prepress, errors may be discovered that could affect the content. Nota: Esta é uma versão não corrigida do manuscrito do autor que foi aceite para publicação. A cópia, a composição e a revisão das provas serão realizadas neste manuscrito antes da publicação final. Durante a produção e pré-impressão, podem ser descobertos erros/lapsos que podem afetar o conteúdo.
The Toulouse-Piéron Cancelation Test (TP) is a classic psychometric tool for the assessment of se... more The Toulouse-Piéron Cancelation Test (TP) is a classic psychometric tool for the assessment of selective/sustained attention, processing speed and visuo-perceptual abilities. It is commonly used in neurological disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease. It encompasses two main indexes: Work-Efficiency (WE) and Dispersion-Index (DI). The aim of this study is to provide normative scores for the TP in a sample of Portuguese healthy adults. The TP was administered to a convenience sample of 357 cognitively-dwelling subjects aged between [45 and 86] years old, following a standard assessment protocol. The normative scores were adjusted for age and education. Education was the main predictor of TP-WE (R2 = .310), whereas the influence of age on this score was lower (R2 = .191). These two variables explained 50.1% of the variance of the results. Regarding TP-DI, education was also the main predictor of the results (R2 = .039), whereas age was responsible for R2 = .011 and together, they explained 5% of the variance of TP-DI. TP performances are strongly influenced by age and education. This is the first study focused on the establishment of normative data after the age of 45 in the Portuguese population, allowing a reliable assessment in both clinical and research contexts.
Avaliação psicológica, capacidade de condução, pessoas idosas, validade preditiva, métodos de inv... more Avaliação psicológica, capacidade de condução, pessoas idosas, validade preditiva, métodos de investigação.
The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases has been significantly increasing in the last decade... more The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases has been significantly increasing in the last decades, and it is expected to continue to grow. These health disorders can impair patients' decision-making capacity in healthcare. The capacity to make healthcare decisions is a fundamental pillar of informed consent, therefore, it should be carefully assessed. Clinicians' assessment, when not supported by a standardized tool, has revealed to be unreliable, so the recourse to an instrument of capacity assessment is crucial. The present paper aims to identify and summarize published instruments of healthcare decision-making capacity. To do so, a search of peer-reviewed articles in English, Portuguese and Spanish was conducted. A total of eighteen articles, detailing seventeen assessment instruments were selected. Instruments differ on format, structure, assessed abilities and psychometric properties. Likewise, instruments' targeted population also varies, with a few being specifically developed for patients with dementia. Although a high number of instruments were found, there is still no gold standard for healthcare decision-making capacity assessment. The lack of a gold standard highlights the need for more research in this field, as well as an effort to develop guidelines and normative data, in order to improve clinical practices.
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