The Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test: evidence of psychometric adequacy

These analyses examine the psychometric properties of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test with Immediate Recall (FCSRT-IR). FCSRT-IR is a measure of memory under conditions that control attention and cognitive processing in order to obtain an assessment of memory unconfounded by normal age-related changes in cognition. FCSRT-IR performance has been associated with preclini-cal and early dementia in several longitudinal epidemiological studies. Factor and item response theory analyses were applied to FCSRT-IR data from patients at a geriatric primary care center who had inde-pendently established clinical diagnoses. The results provide supporting evidence for the psychometric adequacy of the FCSR-IR in terms of reliability, essential (sufficient) unidimensionality, information across the continuum of memory disability/ability, and classification accuracy. The psychometric adequacy of the FCSRT-IR adds further validity to its use as a case finding strategy for dementia. Key words: Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test; item response theory; factor analyses; early dementi