The Erlangen Test of Activities of Daily Living in Persons with Mild Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (ETAM) is a performance test designed to assess the everyday practical abilities of people with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment. The test can also be used for people with moderate dementia (Book et al., 2018).
The materials and information for conducting and evaluating the test can be downloaded here.
Downloading is permitted only for non-commercial use, which means specifically that
- no immediate (direct) costs are incurred by the person being tested (billing as a health insurance benefit by third parties, e.g., doctors, is possible) and
- the ETAM is not resold to third parties in any form as part of a larger test battery (e.g., as part of a larger, fee-based assessment instrument).
The criteria for dementia syndrome include limitations in everyday practical skills. These can be assessed objectively and validly using the ETAM. The ETAM is based on the Erlangen Test of Activities of Daily Living (E-ADL test) developed by Gräßel and colleagues in 2009. However, the E-ADL is “too easy” for people with only mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is why the ETAM was developed.
The test can be used in research (e.g., intervention studies). It is not intended for diagnostic purposes. The test itself takes 19 minutes to complete. The entire process takes approximately 35 minutes.
The ETAM was designed for people with mild to moderate dementia or MCI and can be used in nursing homes as well as other settings.
The test consists of six tasks: (1a) Making tea, (1b) Alarm clock, (2) Pill organizer, (3) Finances, (4) Traffic situations, and (5) Phone call. The tasks are described in more detail here.
Scores between 0 and 30 points can be achieved. The higher the total score, the better the everyday practical skills (ADL performance) of the person with dementia. You can download information on the evaluation and interpretation of the ETAM here.
Two studies were conducted to validate the ETAM (Book et al., 2018; Luttenberger et al., 2016). The results of these validation studies can be found here.
Luttenberger, K., Reppermund, S., Schmiedeberg-Sohn, A., Book, S., & Graessel, E. (2016). Validation of the Erlangen test of activities of daily living in persons with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (ETAM). BMC Geriatrics, 16, 1-12.
You can register to download the scales here.
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Downloading is permitted only for non-commercial use, which means specifically that
- no immediate (direct) costs are incurred by the person being tested (billing as a health insurance benefit by third parties, e.g., doctors, is possible) and
- the ETAM is not resold to third parties in any form as part of a larger test battery (e.g., as part of a larger, fee-based assessment instrument).
Erlangen Test of Activities of Daily Living in Persons with Mild Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (ETAM), Activities of Daily Living (ADL)