THE TELEPHONE INTERVIEW FOR COGNITIVE STATUS (TICS) - RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY IN A STROKE SAMPLE

The Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) is an 11-item screening test (maximum score = 41 points) that was developed for the assessment of cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease who are unwilling or unable to be examined in person. To investigate the 1-month test-retest reliability and validity of the TICS in a stroke sample, we administered it twice by telephone to 36 stroke patients (age = 72.3 +/- 8.9; education = 9.7 +/- 4.7) and 36 stroke-free non-demented control subjects (age = 71.8 +/- 6.8; education = 13.1 +/- 4.1). Dementia was diagnosed in six stroke patients based on neuropsychological and functional examinations performed during an outpatient visit and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was also given. Multiple regression analyses determined that stroke status was significantly related to performance on the TICS (beta = -0.26, p = 0.006), while adjusting for demographic variables. Among stroke patients, test-retest reliability was excellent (r = 0.90, p < 0.001) and performance was significantly correlated with MMSE score (r = 0.86, p < 0.001). A TICS cutoff score < 25 best distinguished between demented and non-demented patients; sensitivity (1.00) and specificity (0.83) were excellent and comparable to the sensitivity (0.83) and specificity (0.87) of the MMSE, with dementia defined as a score < 24/30. We conclude that the TICS is a reliable mental status test that can provide accurate information regarding cognitive function in stroke patients who cannot be assessed in person.