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ABSTRACT: An instrument of assessing the cognitive status of the severely demented is needed.
To validate the Danish version of the cognitive part of the Baylor Profound Mental State Examination (BPMSE-cog).
Participants were residents in dementia care units. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB), the Geriatric Deterioration Scale (GDS) and the Disability Assessment of Dementia (DAD) were co-administered. Three assessments were performed: at baseline, 1 week and 6 months later. At visits 1 and 3, participants were assessed blinded by a geriatric psychiatrist (GDS, MMSE and diagnosis) and by a registered nurse (BPMSE-cog, SIB, DAD). At visit 2, assessments were made by the RN only. Test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities were calculated. External validity was assessed in terms of correlation to MMSE, SIB, GDS and DAD; internal validity was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, Mokken/Loevinger coefficients and the item response analysis.
Inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability were very high for total scale as well as for the subscales. The external validity was satisfactory with correlation coefficients: MMSE: 0.74; SIB: 0.89; the GDS 0.83; DAD: 0.67 (P < 0.001). Results further indicate that there is a ceiling but no floor effect of the BPMSE-cog. The internal validity was highly satisfactory demonstrating sufficient internal consistency and homogeneity of the scale. The item response analysis showed an even distribution of the 25 items.
The BPMSE-cog is a very stable and strong scale and is recommended as a severity measurement for the cognitive performance of patients suffering from severe dementia.
Nordic journal of psychiatry 10/2011; 66(3):198-202. · 0.99 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Increased focus on the quality of health care requires tools and information to address and improve quality. One tool to evaluate and report the quality of clinical health services is quality indicators based on a clinical database.
The Capital Region of Denmark runs a quality database for dementia evaluation in the secondary health system. One volume and seven process quality indicators on dementia evaluations are monitored. Indicators include frequency of demented patients, percentage of patients evaluated within three months, whether the work-up included blood tests, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), brain scan and activities of daily living and percentage of patients treated with anti-dementia drugs. Indicators can be followed over time in an individual clinic. Up to 20 variables are entered to calculate the indicators and to provide risk factor variables for the data analyses.
The database was constructed in 2005 and covers 30% of the Danish population. Data from all consecutive cases evaluated for dementia in the secondary health system in the Capital Region of Denmark are entered. The database has shown that the basic diagnostic work-up programme with MMSE, and a brain scan is performed in almost all patients. Differences in the prevalence of etiological diagnoses indicate differences in the application of the diagnostic criteria. This has initiated a process to harmonize the use of diagnostic criteria and the MMSE including administration guide.
Clinical quality indicators based on all patients evaluated for dementia can be used to standardize and harmonize the evaluation process and improve clinical health services.
Aging and Mental Health 01/2011; 15(1):40-6. · 1.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Using the unique Danish psychiatric and somatic health registers, we investigated the rate of subsequent dementia in patients with late-onset acute and transient psychosis.
By linkage of the psychiatric and the somatic nationwide registers of all patients with in- or outpatient hospital contact in Denmark, we included all patients with a first ever contact during the period 1 January 1994 to 31 December 2001 with one of the main index diagnoses: late-onset acute and transient psychosis or osteoarthritis. Data on the general population were also included. The first diagnosis of dementia for each individual at discharge or at outpatient contact was established. Poisson regression models were used to compare the cohorts of patients with dementia as the outcome of interest.
Using a cut-off age of 60 years, 8062 individuals were included. Significant associations were found between a subsequent diagnosis of dementia and the index diagnosis, age and calendar time. Overall, the rate ratio for developing dementia in late-onset acute and transient psychosis compared to osteoarthritis patients was 10.86 (95% confidence intervals, 8.42 and 14.00, respectively), however, the magnitude of the rate ratio varied according to sex, age, duration since diagnosis and calendar time. Compared to the general population, the rate ratio was 8.12 (95% confidence intervals, 6.77 and 9.74, respectively).
The present study has established that subjects with late-onset acute and transient psychosis are at 11 times higher risk of subsequently getting a diagnosis of dementia compared to patients with osteoarthritis, and at 8 times higher risk compared to the general population.
Geriatrics & Gerontology International 04/2009; 9(1):62-8.
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ABSTRACT: To examine whether very late first-contact delusional disorder carries a risk for later development of dementia.
By linkage of the psychiatric and the somatic nationwide registers of all out- and in-patients with hospital contact in Denmark, we included all 60+ patients with first ever from 1 January 1994 to 31 December 2001 with the index main diagnosis: delusional disorder. First contact osteoarthritis patients as well as the general population were used as controls. A total of 1,437 patients with persistent delusional disorder and 7,302 patients with osteoarthritis were included. Median follow-up time until first diagnosis of dementia at discharge was 1.87 and 4.40 years, respectively. The probability of getting a dementia diagnosis was estimated using Poisson regression models with dementia as the outcome of interest.
Patients with very late first-contact delusional disorder had an 8.14 (95% CI, 6.51; 10.19) times increased rate of subsequently developing dementia compared with very late first contact osteoarthritis patients. Compared with the general population the rate ratio was 5.49 (95% CI, 4.81; 6.26).
Very late first-contact delusional disorder increases the risk of subsequently getting a diagnosis of dementia 5-8 times compared with osteoarthritis patients and the general population.
Aging and Mental Health 10/2008; 12(5):625-9. · 1.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To examine whether late and very-late first-contact schizophrenia carry a risk for later development of dementia.
By linkage of the psychiatric and the somatic nation-wide registers of all out- and in-patients with hospital contact in Denmark, we identified all patients with first ever contact during the period from January 1994 to December 2001 with one of the index main diagnoses: late (age >or=40) and very-late first-contact (age >or=60) schizophrenia. First contact osteoarthritis patients as well as data on the general population were used as controls. The first diagnosis of dementia for each individual at discharge or at out-patient contact was established. The probability of getting a dementia diagnosis is estimated using Poisson regression models with dementia as the outcome of interest.
Twelve thousand six hundred and sixteen and 7,712 individuals were included in the late and very-late sample, respectively. Follow-up time was between 3.00 and 4.58 years. The rate ratio (RR) of developing dementia in late and very-late first-contact schizophrenia compared to osteoarthritis patients were 3.47 (95%CI: 2.19-5.50) and 3.15 (95%CI: 1.93-5.14), respectively. Compared to the general population the RR were 2.36 (95%CI: 1.54-3.62) and 2.21 (95%CI: 1.39-3.50), respectively.
schizophrenic patients with late- and very-late first-contact with the psychiatric hospital system are at two to three times higher risk of subsequently getting a diagnosis of dementia compared to patients with osteoarthritis and compared to the general population.
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 06/2008; 24(1):61-7. · 2.42 Impact Factor
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International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 02/2008; 23(9):979-81. · 2.42 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Assessment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia has great clinical importance. The aim of the study was validation of the Danish version of the NPI, using assessments of 72 demented and 29 non-demented of age 65+ years and their caregivers at three visits. The NPI was administered by the same psychiatric nurse interviewing the same caregiver. At visits 1 and 3, a psychogeriatrician assessed the participant using the ICD-10, the Geriatric Deterioration Scale (GDS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) as well as the NPI in a visual analogue scale (VAS) version. These scores were blindly converted into scores equalling the frequency and severity of the NPI by one of the investigators. Data analysis comprised inter-rater reliabilities (intra-class coefficients, ICC); NPI scores and corresponding VAS scores were compared using Spearman's correlation coefficients. NPI scores at visits 1 and 2 were used to assess the test-retest reliabilities. The scalability of the NPI was assessed with Mokken and Loevinger coefficients. The ICC for all the NPI domains and the GDS (>0.80) were perfect, the ICC for the NPI-VAS (0.68-0.95) and the CGI (0.69) was satisfactory to perfect. Correlations between NPI and NPI-VAS were high; only two domains had coefficients below 0.60: depression and agitation/aggression. NPI-total scores increase with increasing severity of dementia. The NPI did not fulfil the scalability assessed by the Mokken and Loevinger coefficients. The NPI Danish version is valid and reliable in assessing neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia but not fully scalable. The use of single item scores and not total sum score is recommended.
Nordic journal of psychiatry 02/2008; 62(6):481-5. · 0.99 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The aim of the study was to assess the external and internal validity of the 6- and 17-item versions of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D(6) and HAM-D(17)), the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale, the 15- and 30-item versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia in a population of depressed demented and nondemented Danish elderly.
Two clinicians performed independent, blinded assessments of the study population, which was drawn from psychogeriatric outpatient clinics, and a control group of elderly subjects. Concurrent and convergent validity were assessed using correlation coefficient analyses, and to evaluate the internal validity, item response analysis using the Mokken coefficient and Rasch analysis was performed. A coefficient of homogeneity of 0.40 or higher indicated scalability. Data collection took place between October 2001 and April 2004.
145 subjects were included; 102 were female (mean age = 78.6 +/-6.8 years), and 43 were male (mean age = 72.4 +/-5.6 years). In the study group (N = 109), 73 subjects had depression only, and 36 had both depression and dementia; in the control group (N = 36), 11 subjects had dementia. The item-response analysis made a clear distinction between the scales. The HAM-D(6) was the only scale that fulfilled the criterion of total scalability in both the cognitively intact and the impaired populations. In terms of standardization according to the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S), the HAM-D(6) had the most convincing external validity overall. In terms of general correlation to the CGI-S, only small differences were shown between the scales.
The HAM-D(6) should be separately considered even when longer HAM-D versions are used for the measurement of depression in elderly persons.
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 04/2007; 68(3):384-9. · 5.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The study is a validation study of two psychogeriatric depression rating scales, The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD). The sensitivity and specificity, and the convergent and criterion validity of the two scales as well as the inter-rater reliability of the CSDD are reported. Two independent clinicians using the ICD-10 for depression and dementia, the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), the Hamilton Depression rating scale 17-items and the Mini-Mental-State Examination (MMSE), interviewed each patient or control subject. One hundred forty-five persons of 65 years or more of age were included, 73 were depressed only, 36 depressed and demented; 36 persons were control subjects, 11 of these were demented. The inter-rater reliabilities were high or very high equalling perfect correlation. There was very high convergent validity between the screening tools and the severity scales; the shorter versions of the GDS (15-, 10- or four-item version) had lower though still almost perfect correlations. The criterion validity in the total population showed the CSDD as the better scale with sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 97% with a cut-off value of > or =6. The GDS versions had sensitivities and specificities ranging from 82% to 90% and 75% to 94% respectively with cut-off values > or =9, 4, 3 and 1. The CSDD retained its validity and specificity as a screening tool for depression in a population of demented, while the GDS versions all diminished in validity. The GDS and the CSDD are both valid screening tools for depression in the elderly; however, the CSDD alone seems to be equally valid in populations of demented and non-demented.
Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 02/2006; 60(5):360-4. · 0.98 Impact Factor
