A direct functional measure to help ascertain optimal level of residential care.

A brieF direct measure oF daily living skills might help place cognitively impaired elders in suitable living environments. In this study, the Test oF Everyday Functional Abilities (TEFA) as a possible adjunctive measure was investigated. The authors recruited 77 cognitively impaired persons in independent living (IL; N = 26), assisted living (AL; N = 25), and dementia special care (SC; N = 26) units.

Comparison of the test of everyday functional abilities with a direct measure of daily function.

Objectives: To compare scores for dementia patients on a newly developed direct test of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) to scores on a widely accepted functional measure.

Methods: In 27 community-dwelling dementia patients, scores for the Test of Everyday Functional Ability (TEFA) were compared with scores on a widely used direct test of daily function (Independent Living Scale; ILS).

Results: Mini-Mental State Examination scores ranged from 5 to 28 (mean +/- SD = 20.

Dyadic short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III.

Various short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)/WAIS-R have been developed to obtain estimates of overall intellectual level, although little research of WAIS-III short forms has been published to date. Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) estimatesfromfour WAIS-III dyadic short forms were obtained by entering selected subtest scores from a mixed neurologic/ psychiatric sample (n = 196) into regression equations. Results were cross validated on a second sample (n = 57).