Proxy screening tools improve the recognition of dementia in old-age homes: results of a validation study.
BACKGROUND
Despite the high true prevalence of dementia, demential disorders of residents of old age homes may often be not recognized. There is a need for a standardised tool which includes observations of nursing staff.


OBJECTIVE
To describe and validate the Dementia Screening Scale (DSS) for use by nursing staff in old-age homes.


METHODS
All residents of 20 randomly selected old age homes in the city of Mannheim, Germany (n = 1, 922) were rated by nurses using the seven-item proxy dementia rating scale. Based on a subset of residents (n = 598) the DSS was validated against independent diagnostic assessments made by trained psychologists including the Mini-Mental-State-Examination (MMSE), the Dementia Scale of the Brief Assessment Schedule (BAS DEM), and the Washington University Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR).


RESULTS
Using the CDR as a gold standard, the DSS correctly classified at a cut-off of 2/3, 85.8% of the mildly, moderately, or severely demented residents. The accuracy of the DSS was only a little worse than that of the MMSE and the BAS DEM.


CONCLUSIONS
The DSS is well-suited for the recognition of dementia in old age homes. It achieved a better validity than global diagnosis-related staff assessments and compared to performance-based instruments. It is easier to apply, more economic, and associated with a fewer rate of non-response.
Köhler
Leonore
L
Centre: Psychogeriatric Research Unit, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
Weyerer
Siegfried
S
Schäufele
Martina
M
D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005858:Germany; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans