Most individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can live without significant difficulties and perform daily tasks, but in half of individuals, serious cognitive impairment can develop within five years. Early detection of MCI is therefore crucial, as it allows for the earlier planning of specialized treatment aimed at diagnosing more serious conditions. Screening tests that are efficient, feasible, and accessible are needed for this purpose. The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) test is a self-administered screening test for detecting MCI, which does not require the presence of a trained professional or any special equipment, and is comparable to other screening tests. Current research suggests that the SAGE test is a practical and effective tool for large-scale, rapid testing for mild MCI. In the literature, we found only one study that examined the correlation between overall performance on the SAGE test and performance on other executive function (EF) tests. Moreover, no studies have been found that explore in detail how scores in individual SAGE test domains correlate with performance on tests of executive processes, such as working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. In our research, we focused on examining the correlation between SAGE test performance and performance on other EF tests in an age-diverse and healthy sample of individuals. Specifically, we aimed to investigate how overall SAGE test scores and scores in individual SAGE domains correlate with performance on tests of working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. Additionally, we were interested in how SAGE test scores correlate with participants' age and education level. We included 107 individuals, 39 males and 68 females, aged between 20 and 86 years. Each participant completed the SAGE test to measure general cognitive abilities, the Verbal Working Memory Test to measure working memory, the Stroop Task to measure inhibition, the Trail Making Test and Task-Switching Test to assess cognitive flexibility, and the Verbal Fluency Test to measure cognitive flexibility and fluency. We found that demographic data (age and education), considering the results of the EF tests, were not significant predictors of overall performance on the SAGE test when other variables were considered. Furthermore, we found that only the measure of cognitive flexibility (Task switching), calculated from the results of the Trail Making Test, significantly predicted overall performance on the SAGE test when considering other EF tests. We also found that performance on the Verbal Working Memory Test was weakly but significantly positively correlated with the memory domain of the SAGE test. Additionally, performance on the Trail Making Test was weakly but significantly negatively correlated with performance on the tracking domain of the SAGE test. This thesis significantly contributes to the development of new and the adaptation of existing screening tests for detecting MCI, which have the important advantage of being self-administered compared to established tests.
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