Reliability study on the Japanese version of the Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change. Analysis of...

The Japanese version of the Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change plus Caregiver Input (CIBIC-plus J) consists of 3 subscales: Disability Assessment of Dementia Scale (DAD), Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (Behave-AD), and Mental Function Impairment Scale (MENFIS), as well as the Clinician's Global Impression of Change (CGIC). While the interrater reliability of CGIC has already been reported, that of the 3 subscales has not. The aim of the present report was to examine the reliabilities of the subscale items and investigate their relationships with CGIC.

Eleven raters who were clinical physicians watched videotapes of 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease, completed the CIBIC-plus J assessment form, and assigned a CGIC score to the patients. Reliability was assessed using the kappa coefficient.

The kappa coefficient of the subscale items was in most instances higher than that of CGIC (0.453) and substantial reliability was observed. The Spearman rank correlation that was calculated between CGIC and the total score change of items was very high for MENFIS (0.990) and DAD (0.910), and moderate for Behave-AD items (0.576). The incidence of comments by the raters was highest for MENFIS (89%), followed by DAD (70%). The incidence was low for Behave-AD items (48%).

Based on the results, it is concluded that DAD, Behave-AD, and MENFIS are necessary constituents of CIBIC-plus J, and indispensable for the reliability of CGIC.