title: Validity of family history for the diagnosis of dementia among siblings of patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: We examined 180 siblings of 127 probands with probable or possible Alzheimer's dementia (AD) in a family study of AD. The overall sensitivity of a simple family history questionnaire was 64% and the specificity was 84%. Sensitivity improved 90-100% with minimal decline in specificity when we considered clinic-based vs. population survey patients. Higher education among informants and the availability of a spouse or a sibling as informant significantly increased sensitivity. Awareness of such factors may improve the yield of the family history in AD using a simple questionnaire.
authors.affiliation: Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Division of Epidemiology, Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, New York 10032, USA. devigay@sergievsky.cpmc.columbia.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marder
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Schofield
authors.forename: M X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mayeux
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires