Frank Ho-yin Lai
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Keynote: J Neurol Neurosci
Executive functions are the key asset for achievement of autonomy and independence in activities of daily living and their impairment is a major determinant of poor functional outcomes in people with dementia. Performance based evaluation of executive function in using daily living activities is an important area of study for people with dementia. This study is to validate a performance-based evaluation, the Chinese Multiple Errands Test (Chinese-MET) for a group of sixty people with dementia. Their functional disabilities profile was examined. The Chinese-MET was administered concurrently with validated instruments, such as the Lawton Instrumental of Daily Living- Chinese Version (Lawton IADL-CV), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Hong Kong Version (MoCA-HK) and the Chinese Version of the Disability Assessment for Dementia (CDAD) for reliability and validity testing. The index of performance in the Chinese- MET showed significant correlation with the function score of Lawton IADL-CV (r = 0.86, p< 0.001), the cognitive function score of HK-MoCA (r = 0.86, p < 0.001), and the CDAD (r = 0.44, p < 0.001). Analysis of the relationship with sociodemographic factors indicated that the Chinese-MET was not correlated with gender and education, and that the correlation with age was low. The Chinese-MET was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument in assessing executive function of subjects with dementia in Chinese population. The Chinese-MET helps to identify executive function deficits which previously missed by only standard paper and pencil and office based measures. This study made a contribution beyond by introducing the Chinese-MET, so far no validated MET has not been done specifically for people with dementia.
Frank Ho-yin Lai is an Occupational Therapist by Profession. He has been working in the Hospital Authority (HA) of Hong Kong for more than twenty years. He has ample experience in clinical and teaching which covered both psychiatric and physical rehabilitation. Moreover, he had been working actively in geriatric and orthopaedic rehabilitation research. In recent years, his research direction is on the implementation of holistic dementia care. Different clinical and research projects have been commenced. These include “Psychometric Properties Comparison of Cognitive Function in Patients With Delirium and Dementia”, “Reticular Activating System Functioning in Demented Patients with Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms (BPSD)”, “Assessment of Capacity for Everyday Decision Making (aced) for People with Dementia”, “Study on the Execution of Daily Living Activities in Relation to Cognitive Function in Dementia Subtypes”. Moreover, he is the instructor for the dementia supporter program which is a co-joint community volunteer training project between HA and Salvation Army Hong Kong. A resource guidebook had been published as the training material. More than one thousand volunteers in Tai Po district will be trained in providing community care service for clients with dementia.
E-mail: frank.hy.lai@polyu.edu.hk
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