Reliability of routine clinical instruments for the assessment of Alzheimer's disease administered by telephone.
We investigated the reliability, using a telephone interview procedure, of cognitive, functional, and behavioral scales in an elderly population with normal aging and dementia. Two clinicians performed the assessments: one performed the assessments in a telephone interview format and the other conducted the assessments at the clinic. The telephone interview always preceded the clinic evaluation (2-30 days apart), and both clinicians were blind to any previous evaluations of the patient. The intraclass correlation coefficients between the telephone interview and the ratings obtained by a different clinician on the clinic evaluation varied between 0.92 and 0.98 (P's < or = .001) for comprehensive test scores. These results indicate that a telephone interview format, although not a substitute for a face-to-face diagnostic evaluation, is a reliable procedure for obtaining the assessment modalities studied. These findings are particularly important in aged and dementia research populations where personal contact may not always be feasible.
Aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University Medical Center, New York 10016, USA.
I M
IM
Monteiro
I
I
Boksay
S R
SR
Auer
C
C
Torossian
E
E
Sinaiko
B
B
Reisberg
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D015588:Observer Variation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index