Psychometric assessment of the translated and culturally adapted Chinese (Cantonese) of the brief memory and executive test in people with stroke.
Longjun Ren, Thomson Wong, Cynthia Lai and 1 others
PMID 40358471WHAT IT FOUND
The Cantonese Brief Memory and Executive Test detects cognitive issues in stroke survivors with high specificity, but its memory sub-score is unreliable due to practice effects.
Use the total score for screening, but interpret individual memory results with caution.
Key findings
01People with stroke scored significantly lower on the test than healthy adults, confirming it can distinguish the two groups.
02The total score showed moderate test-retest reliability, but the orientation and memory sub-score showed only fair reliability because participants scored higher on the second day.
03A total score of 12.5 was the optimal cut-off to identify cognitive impairment, with 96.3% specificity but only 42.6% sensitivity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The memory sub-score had poor test-retest reliability because participants remembered the words from the first day, inflating second-day scores. The test's sensitivity was low (42.6%), meaning it misses many cases of cognitive impairment. The scoring relies on normative data from a UK population, which may not perfectly fit the Chinese cohort. The study included only people with chronic stroke who could follow simple instructions, excluding those with severe cognitive or physical impairments.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the General Research Fund from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use the memory sub-score to track patient progress over time. Its low reliability means changes in the score likely reflect practice effects rather than actual cognitive change.