Dementia Rating Scale psychometric study and its applicability in long term care institutions in Brazil

• Main Authors: Alessandro Ferrari Jacinto, Ana Cristina Procópio de Oliveira Aguiar, Fabio Gazelato de Melo Franco, Miriam Ikeda Ribeiro, Vanessa de Albuquerque Citero
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein 2012-09-01
• Series: Einstein (São Paulo)
• Subjects: Cognition; Delirium; dementia; amnestic; cognitive disorders; Neuropsychological tests; Homes for the aged; Aged; Sensitivity and specificity; Scales
• Online Access: http://apps.einstein.br/revista/arquivos/PDF/2346-318-322_eng.pdf

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, andagreement of the Dementia Rating Scale with clinical diagnosis ofcognitive impairment and to compare its psychometric measureswith those from Mini Mental State Examination. Methods: Eighty-sixelders from a long-term care institution were invited to participatein a study, and fifty-eight agreed to participate. The global healthassessment protocol applied to these elders contained Mini MentalState Examination and Dementia Rating Scale. Clinical diagnose ofcognitive impairment was performed by experts using the DSM-IVcriteria. Dementia Rating Scale score was correlated to the MiniMental State Examination. Sensitivity and specificity of the DementiaRating Scale and the Mini Mental State Examination were calculated.Results: Twenty-two (37.9%) elders had cognitive impairment (8.6%presented with mental cognitive impairment and 29.3% dementia).The Mini Mental State Examination and the Dementia Rating Scaleclassified 31% and 55.2% as presenting with cognitively impaired.Dementia Rating Scale and the Mini Mental State Examination scorespresented a strong correlation. Dementia Rating Scale had a highersensitivity than Mini Mental State Examination (86.4% versus 61.9%).Dementia Rating Scale presented lower diagnostic specificity thanMini Mental State Examination (63.9% versus 86.5%). ConsideringDementia Rating Scale and Mini Mental State Examination, thediagnostic agreement between them and the clinical diagnosiswas similar. Conclusions: Dementia Rating Scale showed a highsensitivity to detect cognitive impairment in this population, and itcould be a useful tool in these settings.