title: Review of Alzheimer's disease scales: is there a need for a new multi-domain scale for therapy evaluation in medical practice?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present review of Alzheimer's disease (AD) rating scales aims to outline the need for a new rating scale to be used in routine clinical practice for long-term medical care of AD patients. An ideal scale would be: 1) practical, easy and quick to administer for an experienced clinician; 2) validated for AD; 3) multi-domain: covering the AD-relevant areas of cognition, activities of daily living, behavior, communication/social interaction, and quality of life; 4) applicable to all AD severity stages; 5) able to monitor disease progression; and 6) sensitive to measure therapy effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The National Library of Medicines' MEDLINE database was searched for the years 1981 to September 2008, using a set of keywords aiming to select instruments which cover at least some of the requirements for an ideal practical AD scale for therapy evaluation. Measures for AD staging and screening tests were not considered for review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1,902 articles resulting from the literature search, 68 relevant AD scales were identified. Most of them were scales that predominantly measure the severity of major dysfunctions in particular AD domains. Only five scales met some of the requirements for a practical multi-domain AD scale, but did not possess all required characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the multitude of AD scales for various purposes, there remains a need for a new multi-domain and easy to administer AD scale for assessment of disease progression and response to therapy in daily medical practice.
authors.affiliation: Memory Center, CHU - University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Hôpital de Cimiez, 4 av Victoria, 06000 Nice, France. phil.robert15@orange.fr.
authors.forename: Philippe
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authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Steven
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authors.lastname: Ferris
authors.forename: Serge
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authors.lastname: Gauthier
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ihl
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winblad
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tennigkeit
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