Improving screening accuracy for dementia in a community sample by augmenting cognitive testing with informant report

This study sought to determine whether the augmentation of cognitive testing with an informant report questionnaire could improve accuracy in screening for dementia in a community setting. The sample consisted of 646 subjects aged 70–93 years. Cognitive state was assessed using the Mini-Mental State...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical epidemiology 2003-04, Vol.56 (4), p.358-366
Main Authors: Mackinnon, Andrew, Khalilian, Alireza, Jorm, Anthony F., Korten, Ailsa E., Christensen, Helen, Mulligan, Reinhild
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Classification
Cognitive ability
Cognitive assessment
Community Mental Health Services - methods
Confidence intervals
Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases
Dementia
Dementia - diagnosis
Dementia disorders
Epidemiology
Female
Geriatric Assessment - methods
Humans
Informant report
Logistic Models
Male
Mass Screening - methods
Medical research
Medical sciences
Neurology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychometrics
Questionnaires
Receiver operating characteristic analysis
ROC Curve
Screening
Sensitivity and Specificity
Statistical methods
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Test combination
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:This study sought to determine whether the augmentation of cognitive testing with an informant report questionnaire could improve accuracy in screening for dementia in a community setting. The sample consisted of 646 subjects aged 70–93 years. Cognitive state was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Informants completed the 16-item short form of the Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R criteria. Combination of the IQCODE with the MMSE resulted in more accurate prediction of caseness than either test alone. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis demonstrated the superior screening performance of a logical “or” rule and a weighted sum of scores on the two tests over other methods of combination, replicating previous clinically based research. The findings also suggest that the appropriate combination of existing tests may be a fruitful method of improving screening accuracy in a variety of situations.
ISSN:0895-4356
1878-5921
DOI:10.1016/S0895-4356(03)00009-X