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Reliability and validity of the UK Biobank cognitive tests

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  • Chloe Fawns-Ritchie
  • Ian J Deary

Abstract

UK Biobank is a health resource with data from over 500,000 adults. The cognitive assessment in UK Biobank is brief and bespoke, and is administered without supervision on a touchscreen computer. Psychometric information on the UK Biobank cognitive tests are limited. Despite the non-standard nature of these tests and the limited psychometric information, the UK Biobank cognitive data have been used in numerous scientific publications. The present study examined the validity and short-term test-retest reliability of the UK Biobank cognitive tests. A sample of 160 participants (mean age = 62.59, SD = 10.24) was recruited who completed the UK Biobank cognitive assessment and a range of well-validated cognitive tests (‘reference tests’). Fifty-two participants returned 4 weeks later to repeat the UK Biobank tests. Correlations were calculated between UK Biobank tests and reference tests. Two measures of general cognitive ability were created by entering scores on the UK Biobank cognitive tests, and scores on the reference tests, respectively, into separate principal component analyses and saving scores on the first principal component. Four-week test-retest correlations were calculated for UK Biobank tests. UK Biobank cognitive tests showed a range of correlations with their respective reference tests, i.e. those tests that are thought to assess the same underlying cognitive ability (mean Pearson r = 0.53, range = 0.22 to 0.83, p≤.005). The measure of general cognitive ability based on the UK Biobank cognitive tests correlated at r = 0.83 (p

Suggested Citation

  • Chloe Fawns-Ritchie & Ian J Deary, 2020. "Reliability and validity of the UK Biobank cognitive tests," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-24, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0231627
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231627
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Donald M Lyall & Breda Cullen & Mike Allerhand & Daniel J Smith & Daniel Mackay & Jonathan Evans & Jana Anderson & Chloe Fawns-Ritchie & Andrew M McIntosh & Ian J Deary & Jill P Pell, 2016. "Cognitive Test Scores in UK Biobank: Data Reduction in 480,416 Participants and Longitudinal Stability in 20,346 Participants," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-10, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Yan & Fletcher, Jason & Lu, Qiongshi & Song, Jie, 2023. "Gender differences in the association between parity and cognitive function: Evidence from the UK biobank," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    2. Vieira, Bruno Hebling & Pamplona, Gustavo Santo Pedro & Fachinello, Karim & Silva, Alice Kamensek & Foss, Maria Paula & Salmon, Carlos Ernesto Garrido, 2022. "On the prediction of human intelligence from neuroimaging: A systematic review of methods and reporting," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Jonsdottir, Gudrun A. & Einarsson, Gudmundur & Thorleifsson, Gudmar & Magnusson, Sigurdur H. & Gunnarsson, Arni F. & Frigge, Michael L. & Gisladottir, Rosa S. & Unnsteinsdottir, Unnur & Gunnarsson, Bj, 2021. "Genetic propensities for verbal and spatial ability have opposite effects on body mass index and risk of schizophrenia," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Celeste McCracken & Zahra Raisi-Estabragh & Michele Veldsman & Betty Raman & Andrea Dennis & Masud Husain & Thomas E. Nichols & Steffen E. Petersen & Stefan Neubauer, 2022. "Multi-organ imaging demonstrates the heart-brain-liver axis in UK Biobank participants," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

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