In-home assessment of dementia by nurses: experience using the CERAD evaluations. Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease.
OBJECTIVE
To maximize respondent participation in a study of the prevalence, incidence, and natural history of dementia.


METHODS
Clinical research nurses were trained to carry out evaluations for dementia in the home. We describe the assessment and training procedures used and note the advantages and drawbacks of this approach.


RESULTS
Nurse identification of the presence of dementia agreed well with that of medical specialists (kappa = 0.84), but was slightly poorer regarding type of dementia (kappa = 0.71).


CONCLUSIONS
Use of nurses for such activity need not be limited to epidemiological studies, but is relevant also in clinical practice.
Trapp-Moen
B
B
School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Tyrey
M
M
Cook
G
G
Heyman
A
A
Fillenbaum
G G
GG
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results