Preliminary Validation of the Global Neuropsychological Assessment in Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Volunteers

Abstract

Methods

We administered the Global Neuropsychological Assessment (GNA), an abbreviated cognitive battery, to 105 adults aged 73.0 ± 7.1 years, including 28 with probable Alzheimer’s disease, 9 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and 68 healthy controls. We examined group differences in baseline performance, test–retest reliability, and correlations with other conventional tests.

Results

Healthy adults outperformed patients on all five GNA subtests. Test–retest intraclass correlation coefficients were significant for all GNA subtests. Among patients with healthy controls, GNA Story Memory correlated best with Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised (WMS-R) Logical Memory for learning and delayed recall, GNA Digit Span correlated most highly with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (WAIS-III) Digit Span, GNA Perceptual Comparison correlated most highly with the Trail Making Test, and GNA Animal Naming correlated most highly with Supermarket Item Naming.

Conclusions

Preliminary findings suggest that the GNA shows good test–retest validity, clear convergent and discriminant construct validity, and excellent diagnostic criterion validity for dementia and mild cognitive impairment in an American sample.