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Toward the processing speed theory of activities of daily living in healthy aging: normative data of the Functional Activities Questionnaire

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Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to describe an instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) measure: Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), which is often used in clinical settings as a self- or informant-based measure of IADL. However, the FAQ’s relationship with age or education in healthy aging has not been investigated.

Methods

FAQ and a neuropsychological battery were administered to old and very old Czech adults (n = 540). Participants met strict inclusion criteria for the absence of any active or past neurodegenerative disorders.

Results

FAQ is significantly dependent on age and education, but not gender. Younger subjects and those with higher education have the lowest scores in the FAQ and show a higher degree of functional independence. FAQ moderately correlates with speed of processing, visual–perceptual and executive functions measures (Trail Making Tests, Stroop Test) and depressive symptoms, but not with episodic memory (WMS-III logical memory). We present normative percentile values for different age groups from 60 to 96 years of age.

Conclusions

The present study shows conclusively that IADL measures, such as FAQ, should not be used without appropriate normative data, especially in very old adults. Thus, it has the ability to differentiate functional dependence due to age-related decline from neurodegenerative disease.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the external administrators (Eva Biedermannova, Pavla Davidova, Lenka Freharova, Marketa Holubova, Karolina Horakova, Adela Jencova, Olga Kozicka, Lenka Malkova, Jiri Michalec, Barbora Mnukova, Vlasta Novotna, Klara Patlichova, Jana Pecinkova, Lucie Prazakova, Ilona Sedmidubska, Lenka Sreibrova, Nina Sterbova, Tomas Vacha, Martin Vaverka, Zuzana Velkoborska, Michaela Viktorinova, and Tomas Vilimovsky) and Jiri Lukavsky for his statistical analysis.

Funding

The work was supported by grants from the Internal Grant Agency of Ministry of Health of Czech Republic under grant number IGA MZCR NT 13145-4/2012 and by the project “National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH-CZ)“, under grant number ED2.1.00/03.0078, and the European Regional Development Fund. LMN is supported by Charles University Research Centre (UNCE 204004) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – Institutional Support for Longterm Development of Research Organizations—Charles University, Faculty of Humanities (project PRVOUK P20).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic

    Ondrej Bezdicek, Hana Stepankova, Lenka Martinec Novakova & Miloslav Kopecek

  2. Department of Neurology and Centre of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague, Kateřinská 30, 128 21, Praha 2, Czech Republic

    Ondrej Bezdicek

  3. Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague, Praha 5, Czech Republic

    Lenka Martinec Novakova

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  1. Ondrej Bezdicek
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  2. Hana Stepankova
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  3. Lenka Martinec Novakova
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  4. Miloslav Kopecek
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Correspondence to Ondrej Bezdicek.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

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Bezdicek, O., Stepankova, H., Martinec Novakova, L. et al. Toward the processing speed theory of activities of daily living in healthy aging: normative data of the Functional Activities Questionnaire. Aging Clin Exp Res 28, 239–247 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0413-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0413-5

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