Validation of the Medication Box Task Assessment

Guzman Lecture Hall, Dominican University of California

Depending on the severity of cognitive impairments, individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) may experience challenges in their everyday functional performance. Tabletop and occupationbased cognitive assessments are used to evaluate individuals with ABI. There is a need for occupation-based cognitive assessments because they possess ecological validity, which is the ability to reflect an individual’s functional performance in daily life. This study aimed to validate the Medication Box Task assessment (MBTa) as an occupation-based cognitive assessment. Pearson correlations were utilized to compare the results of the MBTa against the results of the battery of five gold standard tabletop assessments. Statistical analysis revealed significant correlations between type II errors of the Tower of London and the extra and missing pills of the MBTa. No other significant correlations between scores of the MBTa and the assessment battery were found. Based on the results, the study did not confirm the construct validity of the MBTa as a cognitive occupation-based assessment. However, a finding indicated that seven out of eight participants made errors on the MBTa and out of those seven; six said they managed their own medication revealing possible safety concerns.