The Computerized Functional Skills Assessment and Training Program: Sensitivity to Global Cognitive Impairment, Correlations With Cognitive Abilities, and Factor Structure

•What is the primary question addressed by this study?This paper presents a study of the sensitivity to global impairment, construct validity, and factor structure of a computerized functional skills assessment and training program targeting technology-related functional skill performance in order adults.•What is the main finding of this study?The assessment program was sensitive to global cognitive impairment measured with the MOCA, correlated, but not overlapping, with a neuropsychological assessment, and manifested an interpretable factor structure that was separable from that seen in a standard cognitive assessment battery.•What is the meaning of the finding?The results of this study suggest that this program may be a valid way to identify technology-related functional skills deficits and target them for treatment with skills training programs, as both cognitively normal and impaired participants were able to complete the assessment while being challenged by the tasks contained in it. We evaluated a novel computer-based functional skills assessment and training (CFSAT) program, which includes ecologically valid simulations of six everyday technology-related tasks. In this report, we describe the psychometric properties of the assessment in terms of sensitivity to impairment, factor structure and correlations with cognitive performance. Cross-sectional baseline assessment prior to a treatment study. Noncognitively impaired older adults (n = 62) and cognitively impaired older adults (n = 55), that ranged in age from 60 to 86 years (M = 73.12), was primarily female (90%), and ethnically diverse (21% Hispanic, 52% African American). Participants were divided at baseline on the basis of MOCA scores and cognitive complaints. The Brief Assessment of Cognition (BAC), app version, was used to measure cognitive performance and completion times on the six subtasks of the CFAST constituted the functional capacity measures. Performance on the CFSAT and BAC discriminated the two cognitive status groups. All of the cognitive domains on the BAC correlated significantly with all six CFSAT subtasks (all p < .01). Factor analyses suggested that the CFSAT and the BAC loaded on separate factors and regression analyses indicated that executive functioning and processing speed had the largest independent association with performance on the CFSAT. The CFSAT is sensitive to functional impairments seen in cognitively impaired older adults. Cognitive performance and CFSAT scores