title: Brazilian version of the Mattis dementia rating scale: diagnosis of mild dementia in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify the diagnostic accuracy of the Brazilian version of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) in the diagnosis of patients with mild dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD); to verify the interference of the variables age and schooling on the performance of the DRS.
  
  
  METHODS
  The DRS was administered to 41 patients with mild AD and to 60 controls. In order to analyze the effects of age and schooling on the performance of the tests, patients and controls were separated into three age groups and three levels of schooling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cutoff score of 122 showed a sensitivity of 91.7 % and specificity of 87.8 %. Age and schooling interfered in the DRS total score and in the scores of its subscales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The DRS showed good diagnostic accuracy in the discrimination of patients with mild AD from the control individuals. In the sample examined, the effects of schooling were more marked than age.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology Unit, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cláudia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Porto
authors.forename: Helenice Charchat
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Fichman
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caramelli
authors.forename: Valéria S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Bahia
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nitrini
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001938:Brazil; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity