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Assessing outcomes in Alzheimer disease
1University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles 90033, USA. lschneid@hsc.usc.edu
Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders
|October 24, 2001
Summary
Assessing Alzheimer disease (AD) treatment effectiveness requires evaluating cognition, daily living activities, and behavior using validated instruments. Careful selection of these tools is crucial for credible outcome data in AD clinical trials.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Geriatrics
- Clinical Trials
Background:
- Alzheimer disease (AD) treatment efficacy assessment requires comprehensive evaluation.
- Key domains include cognition, activities of daily living (ADL), behavior, caregiver burden, quality of life, and economics.
- Numerous instruments exist to measure these diverse outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of instruments used for assessing Alzheimer disease treatment effectiveness.
- To review available assessment tools across multiple domains relevant to AD patient care.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of instruments for assessing AD treatment outcomes.
- Categorization of instruments by domain: cognition, ADL, behavior, global change, caregiver burden, quality of life, and health economics.
- Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of various assessment scales.
Main Results:
- The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale cognitive subscale is a standard for dementia trial efficacy.
- Scales for ADL include Disability Assessment for Dementia and ADCS-ADL.
- Behavioral assessment tools include the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and BEHAVE-AD.
Conclusions:
- A variety of validated instruments are available for assessing multiple domains of Alzheimer disease.
- The selection of appropriate instruments is critical for generating credible and informative outcome data in AD research.
- Careful instrument choice ensures robust evaluation of treatment effectiveness in Alzheimer disease patients.