Validation of the epidemiological dementia index in geriatric outpatients.
The aim of the current study was to test the properties of a scale especially developed for use in epidemiological surveys in low sociocultural populations, and to determine whether this scale can be used in a clinical population.


METHODS
Two hundred fifty subjects took part; 150 were controls and 100 had dementia of various types according to DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria.


RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha was equal to .78. In the group of people under 75 years old, sensitivity did not exceed 90%. Specificity was over 90% at the level 4/5. The respective scores for the group of people over 74 were 6/7 and 3/4.


CONCLUSIONS
The Epidemiological Dementia Index seems to be less powerful when used in a clinical population. This provides further evidence that it is not suitable to use the same instruments in both epidemiological studies and clinical practice.
Fountoulakis
K N
KN
3rd Department of Psychiatry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. kfount@med.auth.gr
Tsolaki
M
M
Paulopoulos
H
H
Kazis
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index