title: Reliability and validity of the Norwegian version of the Brief Agitation Rating Scale (BARS) in dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the test-retest reliability and validity of the Norwegian Brief Agitation Rating Scale (BARS), a short form of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) assessing the frequency of agitation in dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability and the validity of BARS. In the validity study, we compared the BARS scores with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory--Nursing Home Version subscale Agitation/Aggression (NPI-NH/AA) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia subscale Agitation (CSDD/A).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the reliability study, Cronbach's alpha was 0.76; the test-retest reliability of the BARS showed a Spearman's rho of 0.64, but this increased to 0.86 when we deleted the item 'complaining'. In the validation study, the BARS score correlated with the NPI-NH/AA and the CSDD/A scores, Spearman's rho 0.55 and 0.52, respectively. These correlations changed when controlling for the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale stages. The highest correlations between the BARS and the NPI-NH/AA and the BARS and the CSDD/A were found among patients with CDR score 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study indicates that the Norwegian version of BARS is a reliable and valid instrument to test agitation in dementia, but a version without the item 'complaining' would be better.
authors.affiliation: Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Norway Innlandet Hospital Trust, Reinsvoll, Norway. oskarsommer@gmail.com
authors.forename: Oskar H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engedal
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D014175:Translating