The Psychogeriatric Assessment Scales: a multidimensional alternative to categorical diagnoses of dementia and depression in the elderly

SYNOPSISThe Psychogeriatric Assessment Scales (PAS) provide an assessment of the clinical changes seen in dementia and depression. Principal components analysis and latent trait analysis were used to develop a set of scales to summarize these clinical changes. There are three scales derived from an interview with the subject (Cognitive Impairment, Depression, Stroke) and three from an interview with an informant (Cognitive Decline, Behaviour Change, Stroke). Results are reported on the reliability and validity of these scales using data from clinical samples in Sydney and Geneva and a population sample from Canberra. The scales were found to have excellent validity when judged against clinical diagnoses of dementia and depression and could distinguish Alzheimer's from vascular dementia. Cut-off points were developed to indicate correspondence between scale scores and clinical diagnoses. Percentile rank norms were developed from the Canberra population sample. The PAS is easy to administer and score and can be used by lay interviewers after training. It is intended for application both in research and in services for the elderly.

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The Reliability and Validity of Two Assessment Scales in the Elderly Mentally Handicapped

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.138.1.15 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 138 (1) ◽

pp. 15-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. H. W. Smith ◽

B. R. Ballinger ◽

A. S. Presly

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Ability ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

The Elderly ◽

Mentally Handicapped ◽

Rater Reliability ◽

Assessment Scales

SummaryThe Clifton Assessment Schedule and the Shortened Stockton Rating Scale were administered to 38 elderly, mentally handicapped patients. Inter-rater reliability was high and the CAS was found to be a useful measure of cognitive ability. The tests measure different features of patients, but both correlated significantly with estimated levels of independence.

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Scaling up research on discrimination and health: The abridged Explicit Discrimination Scale

Journal of Health Psychology ◽

10.1177/13591053211018806 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 135910532110188

Author(s):

João L Bastos ◽

Michael E Reichenheim ◽

Yin C Paradies

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Large Scale ◽

Perceived Discrimination ◽

Latent Trait ◽

Scaling Up ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Scale Scores ◽

Scalar Structure ◽

Using Data

Using data from two studies conducted among diverse undergraduate students, we assessed the scalar structure of the Explicit Discrimination Scale (EDS), and developed an abridged version of the instrument. Our findings suggest that the EDS has acceptable scalability properties, including an adequate dispersion of items along the latent trait continuum. Results also support the idea that increasing raw scale scores reflect higher intensities of perceived discrimination. This shortened version of the EDS may be used in large-scale studies on the health impacts of discrimination.

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Adult psychosis, common childhood infections and neurological soft signs in a national birth cohort

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.181.5.387 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 181 (5) ◽

pp. 387-392 ◽

Cited By ~ 72

Author(s):

Stuart J. Leask ◽

D. John Done ◽

Timothy J. Crow

Keyword(s):

Population Sample ◽

Adult Onset ◽

Psychotic Illness ◽

Affective Psychosis ◽

Neurological Soft Signs ◽

National Child Development Study ◽

Childhood Infections ◽

Clinical Diagnoses ◽

Using Data ◽

The Uk

BackgroundNeurological soft signs preceding adult-onset schizophrenia suggest a neurodevelopmental origin and could reflect physical illness in childhood.AimsTo investigate possible associations of adult-onset psychosis with neurological soft signs and common infectious illnesses in childhood.MethodUsing data from the UK National Child Development Study, a longitudinal general population sample, odds ratios were calculated for clinical diagnoses of common childhood viral illnesses and later adult psychotic illness, childhood epilepsy and a range of neurological soft signs.ResultsThe number of illnesses per individual did not relate either to the number of soft signs, or to any particular adult outcome. Schizophrenia, affective psychosis and epilepsy were not associated with common childhood illness but were associated with neurological soft signs and an increased, but small, frequency of previous meningitis and tuberculosis.ConclusionsOverall the data support the notion of neurological soft signs as markers of disordered neurodevelopment in schizophrenia (but the early neurological abnormalities are not caused by infectious illness) and an association between meningitis or tuberculosis in childhood and a small proportion of cases of epilepsy, affective psychosis and schizophrenia.

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Inter-Rater Reliability and Validity of the Elderly Mobility Scale in Chronic Stroke Patients

JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION & REHABILITATION SCIENCE ◽

10.15870/jsers.2016.03.55.1.51 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 55 (1) ◽

pp. 51

Author(s):

Chang Sik Park

Keyword(s):

Reliability And Validity ◽

The Elderly ◽

Chronic Stroke ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Rater Reliability ◽

Elderly Mobility

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The validity of diagnostic systems for common mental disorders: a comparison between the ID-CATEGO and the DSM-III systems

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700013386 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 209-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

David Grayson ◽

Keith Bridges ◽

Diane Cook ◽

David Goldberg

Keyword(s):

Discriminant Analysis ◽

Depressive Disorders ◽

Common Mental Disorders ◽

Latent Trait ◽

Mental Illnesses ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Multiple Discriminant Analysis ◽

Diagnostic Systems ◽

Scale Scores ◽

Initial Scale

SYNOPSISIt is argued that latent trait analysis provides a way of examining the construct validity of diagnostic concepts which are used to categorize common mental illnesses. The present study adds two additional aspects of validity using multiple discriminant analysis applied to two widely used taxonomic systems. Scales of anxiety and depression derived from previous latent trait analyses are applied to individuals reaching criteria for ‘caseness’ on the ID-CATEGO system and the DSM-III system, both at initial diagnosis and six months later. The first multiple discriminant analysis is carried out on the initial scale scores, and the results are interpreted in terms of concurrent validity. The second analysis uses improvement scores on the two scales and relates to predictive validity. It is argued that the ID-CATEGO system provides a better classification for common mental illnesses than the DSM-III system, since it allows a better discrimination to be made between anxiety and depressive disorders.

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The Effect of Loneliness on Death Anxiety in the Elderly During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.1177/00302228211010587 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003022282110105

Author(s):

Türkan Akyol Guner ◽

Zeynep Erdogan ◽

Isa Demir

Keyword(s):

Death Anxiety ◽

The Elderly ◽

Average Score ◽

City Center ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

North West ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Scale Scores ◽

Education Status ◽

At Home

The aim of the study is to determine the effect on death anxiety of loneliness in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The population of this study that is descriptive and cross-sectional type consist of 354 elderly who meet the inclusion criteria from three different associations operating for charitable purposes in a city center located in north-west Turkey. The average score of Loneliness Scale of Elderly (LSE) of the elderly was determined as 11.39 ± 5.31, and the average score of Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) of the elderly was determined as 8.54 ± 4.82. According to these results, it was found that the elderly experienced acceptable levels of loneliness and moderate death anxiety. A statistically significant difference was found in the LSE and DAS scores of the elderly according to their age, marital status, education status, chronic illness status and living at home with relatives. In addition, during the COVID-19 epidemic, the scale scores of the elderly who have increased worries, who have a hobby at home, and who communicate with their relatives via social media/mobile phones were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05).

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Cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health disorders associate with greater decreases in physical capability in older women

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

10.1186/s12891-021-04056-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Juopperi Samuli ◽

Sund Reijo ◽

Rikkonen Toni ◽

Kröger Heikki ◽

Sirola Joonas

Keyword(s):

Chronic Diseases ◽

Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

Population Sample ◽

The Elderly ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Baseline Body Mass Index ◽

Functional Tests ◽

Physical Capability ◽

Study Population

Abstract Background Good physical capability is an important part of healthy biological ageing. Several factors influencing physical capability have previously been reported. Long-term reports on physical capability and the onset of clinical disorders and chronic diseases are lacking. Decrease in physical capacity has been shown to increase mortality. This study focuses on the prevalence of chronic diseases. The primary objective of the study was to reveal the association between physical capability and morbidity. Secondary objectives included the validity of self-reported physical capability and the association between baseline physical capability and mortality. Methods The OSTPRE (Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention Study) prospective cohort involved all women aged 47–56 years residing in the Kuopio Province, Finland in 1989. Follow-up questionnaires were mailed at five-year intervals. Physical capability questions were first presented in 1994. From these women, we included only completely physically capable subjects at our baseline, in 1994. Physical capability was evaluated with five scale self-reports at baseline and in 2014 as follows: completely physically capable, able to walk but not run, can walk up to 1000 m, can walk up to 100 m and temporarily severely incapable. The prevalences of selected chronic diseases, with a minimum prevalence of 10% in 2014, were compared with the change in self-reported physical capability. Additionally, associations between long-term mortality and baseline physical capability of the whole 1994 study population sample were examined with logistic regression. The correlation of self-reported physical capability with functional tests was studied cross-sectionally at the baseline for a random subsample. Results Our study population consisted of 6219 Finnish women with a mean baseline age of 57.0 years. Self-reported physical capability showed statistically significant correlation with functional tests. Cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders show the greatest correlation with decrease of physical capability. Prevalence of hypertension increased from 48.7% in the full physical capability group to 74.5% in the “able to walk up to 100 metres” group (p < 0.001). Rheumatoid arthritis showed a similar increase from 2.1 to 7.4% between these groups. Higher baseline body mass index (BMI) decreases long-term capability (P < 0.001). Women reporting full physical capability at baseline had a mortality rate of 15.1%, in comparison to 48.5% in women within the “able to walk up to 100 m” group (p = 0.357). Mortality increased steadily with worsening baseline physical capability. Conclusions The results of this study show that chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders, correlate with faster degradation of physical capability in the elderly. Similar results are shown for increase in BMI. We also demonstrate that the risk of mortality over a 20-year period is higher in individuals with poor baseline physical capability.

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The Role of Entropy in Construct Specification Equations (CSE) to Improve the Validity of Memory Tests

Entropy ◽

10.3390/e23020212 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 212

Author(s):

Jeanette Melin ◽

Stefan Cano ◽

Leslie Pendrill

Keyword(s):

Rating Scales ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Item Difficulty ◽

Digit Span ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Practice Research ◽

Theory Approach ◽

Memory Tests ◽

Using Data ◽

Block Test

Commonly used rating scales and tests have been found lacking reliability and validity, for example in neurodegenerative diseases studies, owing to not making recourse to the inherent ordinality of human responses, nor acknowledging the separability of person ability and item difficulty parameters according to the well-known Rasch model. Here, we adopt an information theory approach, particularly extending deployment of the classic Brillouin entropy expression when explaining the difficulty of recalling non-verbal sequences in memory tests (i.e., Corsi Block Test and Digit Span Test): a more ordered task, of less entropy, will generally be easier to perform. Construct specification equations (CSEs) as a part of a methodological development, with entropy-based variables dominating, are found experimentally to explain (r=R2 = 0.98) and predict the construct of task difficulty for short-term memory tests using data from the NeuroMET (n = 88) and Gothenburg MCI (n = 257) studies. We propose entropy-based equivalence criteria, whereby different tasks (in the form of items) from different tests can be combined, enabling new memory tests to be formed by choosing a bespoke selection of items, leading to more efficient testing, improved reliability (reduced uncertainties) and validity. This provides opportunities for more practical and accurate measurement in clinical practice, research and trials.

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Dementia Adjudication Triggers Associated With Increased Mortality for Older Australians: Evidence From ASPREE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.523 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 161-161

Author(s):

Jane Banaszak-Holl ◽

Xiaoping Lin ◽

Jing Xie ◽

Stephanie Ward ◽

Henry Brodaty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Proportional Hazards ◽

Proportional Hazards Model ◽

The Elderly ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Service Planning ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽

Cognitive Test ◽

Risk Of Death ◽

Hazards Model ◽

Using Data

Abstract Research Aims: This study seeks to understand whether those with dementia experience higher risk of death, using data from the ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) clinical trial study. Methods: ASPREE was a primary intervention trial of low-dose aspirin among healthy older people. The Australian cohort included 16,703 dementia-free participants aged 70 years and over at enrolment. Participants were triggered for dementia adjudication if cognitive test results were poorer than expected, self-reporting dementia diagnosis or memory problems, or dementia medications were detected. Incidental dementia was adjudicated by an international adjudication committee using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria and results of a neuropsychological battery and functional measures with medical record substantiation. Statistical analyses used a cox proportional hazards model. Results: As previously reported, 1052 participants (5.5%) died during a median of 4.7 years of follow-up and 964 participants had a dementia trigger, of whom, 575 (60%) were adjucated as having dementia. Preliminary analyses has shown that the mortality rate was higher among participants with a dementia trigger, regardless of dementia adjudication outcome, than those without (15% vs 5%, Χ2 = 205, p <.001). Conclusion: This study will provide important analyses of differences in the hazard ratio for mortality and causes of death among people with and without cognitive impairment and has important implications on service planning.

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