B - 57 An Analysis of the Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADLQ): Is Executive Dysfunction Associated with Functional Decline?

OBJECTIVE: The ADLQ measures the ability to perform basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs). Several factors, including cognition, may play a role in someone's ability to perform ADLs. The purpose of this study was to understand how executive functioning (EF) impacts abilities measured by the ADLQ.

METHOD: Data were retrospectively collected from a mixed sample of patients with cognitive impairment (MCI: 29; dementia: 34) who underwent neuropsychological evaluation at a private practice in the Portland, Oregon area (n = 63, mean age = 76.65, mean education = 14.92 years). Patients with a history of moderate-to-severe TBI or severe psychiatric history were excluded. Six ADLQ scales and measures of EF (phonemic fluency, DKEFS Tower, Trails B, Stroop Interference) were analyzed using nonparametric Spearman's rank correlations. A p-level of 0.01 was used to reduce likelihood of type I errors.

RESULTS: There was a negative correlation between phonemic fluency and both self-care (ρ = -0.485, p = 0.002) and shopping (ρ = -0.474, p = 0.003). There was a negative correlation between travel and performance on both Trails B (ρ = -0.490, p = 0.009) and Stroop Interference (ρ = -0.634, p = 0.000). For the above EF tests, worse performance was associated with more impairment in the associated ADLs. Other correlations were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Performance on certain EF tests is associated with impairment in the domains of self-care, shopping, and travel. Executive dysfunction appears related to functional decline on the ADLQ, but further analysis using larger samples is warranted to better understand this relationship.