Can IQCODE detect poststroke dementia?
BACKGROUND
Little is known about the performance of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) in the screening of post-stroke dementia (PSDE).


METHODS
At 3 months after the index stroke, a research assistant administered the IQCODE to relatives of 189 Chinese patients with acute stroke who were consecutively admitted to a general hospital. A psychiatrist, who was blind to the IQCODE scores, interviewed all 189 patients and made DSM-IV diagnosis of dementia, which served as the benchmark for judging the performance of IQCODE in screening PSDE.


RESULTS
The optimal cut-off point of IQCODE was 3.40. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of IQCODE, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, were 88%, 75%, 33%, 98%, and 0.88, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
When used as a sole instrument, IQCODE does not appear to be useful in screening PSDE in Chinese elderly.
Tang
Wai Kwong
WK
Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China. tangwk@cuhk.edu.hk
Chan
Sandra S M
SS
Chiu
Helen F K
HF
Wong
Ka Sing
KS
Kwok
Timothy C Y
TC
Mok
Vincent
V
Ungvari
Gabor S
GS
D000368:Aged; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*