title: Functional disability in early Alzheimer's disease - a validation study of the Italian version of the disability assessment for dementia scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the applicability and psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Disability Assessment of Dementia scale (DAD-I) in a community-residing population with early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The DAD-I was administered to the primary caregivers of 159 patients (mean age +/- SD 77.1 +/- 5.2) with mild AD (mean Mini Mental State Examination, MMSE, +/- SD 23.1 +/- 2.2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The DAD-I showed excellent internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92) and good construct validity. The DAD-I score was not significantly associated with gender, education and presumed duration of the illness, and had a low negative correlation with age. The DAD-I score correlated moderately with the traditional Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and Activities of Daily Living scales, respectively, with r = 0.53 and r = 0.54 (p < 0.0001). Relatively low, but statistically significant correlations (r ranging between 0.21 and 0.31) with the MMSE were also found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The DAD-I was found to be a reliable and valid instrument to assess functional disability in community-dwelling Italian subjects with early-stage AD.
authors.affiliation: Special Dementia Care Unit, Nursing Home Facility IX Gennaio, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Luc Pieter
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: De Vreese
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caffarra
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Savarè
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cerutti
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grossi
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires