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the Alzheimer's Type: aging his or her family member. It is often difficult to
determine rhe residual capahility from self or family re-
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431
KTA differs from the AMPS in that it measures onlv the commercial package. The test addresses the follOWing
actions associated with the processing skills of initiation, questions regarding the person's performance:
organization, inclusion of all steps, sequencing, safety and
1 Can the person begin the task?
judgement, and comrletion and was designed only to
2. Can the person gather the items necessary to
measure the cognitive aspects of performance.
perform the task?
The KTA (a) evaluates the cognitive rrocesses that
3. Can the person rerform all the steps necessal)' to
affect task rerformance and records the level of cognitive
complete the task)
surport necessary for successful task completion; (b) can
4. Can the person sequence the activiti<:s that make
be performed either in a clinic or in the person's horne in
it rossihle to complete the task?
a short reriud uf time; (c) alluws the clinician to observe
5. Is the person safe in performing the task)
and translate the person's performance into strategies
6. Does the person know when he or she is finished
the caregiver may use to manage the cognitively impaired
with the task?
person un other activities of daily living and instrumental
tasks; and (d) generates a score to measure changes in The person administering the test provides the nec-
performance over time (either progression or improve- essary assistance to make it a successful exrerience for
ment). It can be used with a companion instrument, the the subject (see Appendix A) Performance is scored on
Functional Behavior Profile (Baum, Edwards, & Morrow- the follOWing components: (a) initiation, (b) organiza-
Howell, in rress), to record the caregiver's rerceptiun's tion, (c) rerformance of all steps, (d) sequencing, (e)
of the impaired person's capahilities. This paper presents judgment and safety, and (f) cumpletion. The level uf
a study exam ining the content validity and construct valid- surport required from the tester fur each component is
ity, interrater reliability, and the internal consistency of scored: 0 (independently competent), 1 (reqUired verbal
the KTA cue), 2 (reqUired physical assistance), 3 (totally incapa-
ble). The higher the score, the more impaired the per-
Method furmance (total scores range from 0 tu 18) (see Appendix
Subjects B).
The subjects in this study came from the Memory and
Aging Project at Washington University, a longitudinal Procedure
study of healthy aging and SDAT The subjects were re-
The KTA (see Figure 1) was administered in the occura-
cruited through public annuuncements, the Alzheimer's
tional therapy department kitchen as a part of a Function-
Disease and Related Disorders Association, and referrals
al Test Battery by an occupational therapist or research
from community physicians and uther health profession-
assistant trained in its administratiun. The caregiver was
als. Before enrollment in the Memory and Aging Project,
not present, and the testers were blind to the CDR rating.
rotential subjects were tested for hypothyroidism, vita-
Testers recurded observations regarding the assistance
min B-12 deficiency, and uther potentially reversible
the)' provided during the assessment but the scming was
causes of dementia. Thuse with severe h)'pertension,
recorded only after the task was finished. Verbal assis-
strokes, severe medical problems, or psychiatric illness
tance and physical assistance were marked regardless of
were excluded from partiCipation. This study included
the numher of cues given. The subject may have needed
106 suhjects, 56 women and 50 men with a mean age of
several verbal cues and only one physical assistance, but if
71.75 years (range 53.8-85.4). Ninety-three rersons were
married; 13 were widowed or single. All were living in the physical assistance was required, it was recorded.
community with a caregiver. Five analyses were used in this study: (a) Kendall's
tau B to determine the interrater reliability of the KTA; (b)
Diagnosis and staging were performed hy a team of
correlation analysis to examine the relationship among
neurologists and psychiatrists using the Clinical Demen-
the six variables in the measure; (c) factor analysis to
tia Rating [CDRj (Berg, 1988; Burke et aL, 1988). This
alluws the analysis of data across the progressive stages of identify common relationships among the variahles; (d)
correlation analysis with other valid instruments to deter-
the disease. A CDR is derived from the subjeCts' perform-
ance in the areas of memory, orientation, judgment and mine the construct validity of the KTA; and (e) analysis of
prohlem solVing, community affairs, home and hohbies, variance to examine the KTA across stages of SDAT and
and personal care. Clinical Dementia Ratings of 0.5,1,2, between men and women.
and 3 indicate questionable, mild, moderate, and severe
dementia. Results
432
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'.JAME _ DATE _
EXAMINEI~ _
Circle the number that corresponds to the level of support the individual required_
REQUIRED
REQIIIRED PI IYSICAL NOT
COMPONENT INDEPENDENT VERl3AI. CUES ASSISTANCE CAPAI3LE
INITiATION:
were then shown the videotapes and asked to score 3 these subjects required only verbal assistance on the KTA.
subjects. There was no discussion until all three subjects For the correlation analysis, correlation coefficients
had been scored. The interrater reliahility for the total were computed among the six KTA variables and the total
score was .853. The range was .632 for safety to 1.0 for score (see Tahle 2). The strong correlation coefficients of
initiation. .72-.84 suggested that only one dimension might exist
As a preliminary step to the correlation and factor (Nunnally, 1978) and that the sample of cognitive do-
analyses, the univariatcs were reviewed for the total sub- mains selected for the KTA all contrihute to the measure-
ject group (n = 106) and the four CDR groups. Scores on ment of the cognitive performance of the task.
the KIA increased with the severity of dementia (see
Table 1). The CDR 3 group were the most impaired. The
Table 1
tremendous variahility within each CDH group should be
Mean, Standard Deviation and Range of Scores on the
carefully noted. The importance of staging SDAT persons Kitchen Task Assessment by Stage of Dementia
when conducting research is demonstrated by the per-
formance of the group as a whole. The mean score of8.71
CDR O.S (QUte'li()(1;lbk) 55 /.7S 0-07
suggests that a1l106 suhjects would require physical assis- CDH I (Mild) -i2 -1.6S O-IK
tance with the task. When subjects are grouped by CDR CDI{ 2 (Modcralte) 21 9~1 4-1~
stage, the mean scores of th<:: ljuestionahle and mild Cf)I( .~ (Sc\,terte) 10 I:~.~H 7-IH
('1'< H;11 SUbjl'lIS) 10(, ~.71 a-It-:
grou ps (1.75 and 4.65 respectively) clearly indicate that
Appendix A
Table 4 Administration Procedure
Means of KTA Scores across the stages of SOAT for PIT-resr Ser-up
Females, Males, and All Subjects
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