Prevalence rates of dementia in an ageing population:are low rates due to the use of insensitive instruments? :see comments:
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Flere språk: Engelsk
| Utgitt | - Department of Psychological Medicine, NewcastleGeneral Hospital.
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| Omfang | 7 s.
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| Utgave | Kopi
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| Opplysninger | The varying prevalence rates of dementia reported inelderly populations may be partly due to the use of different diagnosticmeasures. In a recent study in which diagnosis was based on the CAPE, a12-item questionnaire, the prevalence rate for severe cognitiveimpairment for the age group 75 years or over was lower than previouslyreported. In the present study, the performance of the CAPE was examinedin an elderly general-practice sample with a higher than usual risk ofdementia. The study diagnosis was based on a combination of thediagnosis made by the computer program AGECAT and a clinical diagnosis made bythe interviewing psychiatrist. Forty-five per cent of patients withdefinite or probable dementia, as defined, and 100% of those with possibledementia had scores above the cut-point on the CAPE. The sensitivity of theCAPE was low compared with that of other rating scales. It isconcluded that the low reported rate with the CAPE is probably due to only themore severe cases being identified. For comparative purposes it is important to know the level of dementia that the instruments used are detecting.
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