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.
Monteiro
I M
IM
Aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University Medical Center, New York 10016, USA.
Boksay
I
I
Auer
S R
SR
Torossian
C
C
Sinaiko
E
E
Reisberg
B
B
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