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Validation of the epidemiological dementia index in geriatric outpatients
K N Fountoulakis1, M Tsolaki, H Paulopoulos
13rd Department of Psychiatry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. kfount@med.auth.gr
Unlabelled:
The aim of the current study was to test the properties of a scale especially developed for use in epidemiological surveys in low sociocultural populations, and to determine whether this scale can be used in a clinical population.
Material And Methods:
Two hundred fifty subjects took part; 150 were controls and 100 had dementia of various types according to DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria.
Results:
Cronbach's alpha was equal to .78. In the group of people under 75 years old, sensitivity did not exceed 90%. Specificity was over 90% at the level 4/5. The respective scores for the group of people over 74 were 6/7 and 3/4.
Discussion:
The Epidemiological Dementia Index seems to be less powerful when used in a clinical population. This provides further evidence that it is not suitable to use the same instruments in both epidemiological studies and clinical practice.