한국판 Syndrom Kurztest (SKT)의 타당도 연구

초록

Backgroud: The SKT (Syndrom Kurztest) is a brief neuropsychological test battery that consists of nine Subtests and defines two independent factors of memory and attention deficit. The international validation of test instruments is necessary for communicating and comparing study results across countries. Objectives: The aim of this study is to manufacture and validate the Korean version of the SKT. Methods: A committee reviewed the original version of the SKT for its appropriateness to Korean subjects. To define the problems of the original SKT to Korean subjects, it was administered to healthy normal subjects. To validate the Korean version of the SKT, we recruited subjects with Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) 1-5 and those aged 60 years or more. Seventy-six patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), 40 vascular dementia (VaD), and 91 non-demented subjects participated in our study. Thirty-two subjects (13 Controls, 7 patients with AD, and 12 with VD) also underwent the parallel test reliability. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and GDS were administered on the same day of SKT. Results: The Korean version of three Forms (A-C) were developed out of five parallel Forms (A-E) of original SKT. Some items in Subtest I of Forms A, B and C were changed with pictures familiar to Korean elderly. And the English alphabet characters of Subtest VII of three Forms were changed to Korean characters. The Korean version of the SKT had a good concurrent validity with MMSE (r= -0.83, p<0.001). SKT total scores significantly increased as GDS increased. Factor analysis confirmed the presence of two primary factors, memory and attention. Reliabilities of each Subtest among three parallel Forms were high (r, 0.46-0.95). Conclusion: The Korean version of SKT is valid for evaluation of cognition for Korean elderly. The overall similarities of the factor structures for the Korean data and those for other countries constitute the evidence of the transcultural stability of the SKT.