Performance of study partner reports in a non-demented at-risk sample

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Gerontology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale is a standard for assessing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (ADRD).
• The Quick Dementia Rating System (QDRS) provides similar results rapidly, without requiring a clinician.
• This study evaluates the QDRS's utility compared to the established CDR Scale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the agreement between global scores derived from the QDRS and CDR Scale.
• To analyze item-level agreement between the QDRS and CDR Scale.
• To compare cognitive performance in groups based on QDRS/CDR scoring concordance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 351 QDRS/CDR pairs from 297 participants in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP).
• Employed statistical analyses including agreement indices, lasso logistic regression, tetrachoric correlations, and linear mixed models.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 70.66% concordance rate between QDRS and CDR global scores.
• Identified discrepancies in memory items as the primary cause of global score discordance.
• Observed the highest cognitive scores in concordant-normal groups and the lowest in concordant-abnormal groups.

Conclusions:

• The QDRS demonstrates effectiveness in screening for cognitive impairment in ADRD within this sample.
• Future research will explore the relationship between QDRS scores and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.