Assessment of financial aptitude and knowledge in the elderly : The Montreal Assessment of Financial Activities Scale (EMAF-EN) / by Neil F. Pascoe.

Abstract

With the increasing age of the population, there is a corresponding increase in dementias and other similarly limiting disorders. An objective assessment tool of when a person is no longer capable to handle his or her own finances could increase the validity and reliability of such determinations. In a society that values individual rights, this would be a valuable asset. Presently, there is only one known assessment tool of competence for managing one's finances designed for the Canadian monetary system and culture, the Montreal Assessment of Financial Activities Scale (EMAF-EN). This study created a sample of the English half of this test. It also investigated differences in EMAF-EN performance due to employment, income, age, education, cognitive well-being, and rating of difficulty of arithmetic and mathematics. Significant differences in EMAF-EN performance were found for education and employment but no other demographic variables. The difference in performance on the EMAF-EN found by years of education indicate that significant differences in performance can be expected by years of education. The statistically significant difference found by employment experiences went contrary to what was expected. Finally, the internal properties of the EMAF-EN and correlations within the EMAF-EN, the indexes of the EMAF-EN, and with the demographic variables used in this study were analyzed to consider internal consistency and redundancy. Few large correlations were found. This indicates the different subtests of the EMAF-EN measure different domains.