Development and validation of the Greek severe impairment battery (SIB).
BACKGROUND
Most neuropsychological batteries, especially those most often used, are unsuitable for the assessment of patients with severe dementia. The Severe Impairment Battery (SIB) was developed for the evaluation of preserved cognitive functions in these patients. The aim of this study was to formulate a Greek version of the SIB and to conduct a first assessment of its use of patients with mild, moderate, or severe Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).


METHODS
A convenience sample of 42 dementia patients according to DSM-IV-TR criteria and 23 healthy participants was selected. Patients were assessed twice using a Greek translation of the SIB and the Greek version of MMSE. Patients were divided into three severity groups based on grouped by Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score and the SIB and MMSE scores were compared.


RESULTS
The validity of the SIB was confirmed by evaluating the correlation coefficients between the SIB and Greek-MMSE, grouped by CDR, which were found to be significant. Cronbach's α for the total SIB score and each subscale score showed high significance, and the item-total correlation for each subscale was also acceptable. The test-retest correlation for the total SIB score and subscale scores were significant. The total SIB score and subscale scores were examined according to CDR.


CONCLUSIONS
The Greek SIB is reliable and valid in differentiating patients with moderate or severe dementia, whereas MMSE loses sensitivity due to a floor and ceiling effect.
1st Psychiatric Clinic, Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Anastasia
A
Konsta
1st Psychiatric Clinic, Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni
E
Bonti
1st Psychiatric Clinic, Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni
E
Parlapani
1st Psychiatric Clinic, Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Loukas
L
Athanasiadis
1st Psychiatric Clinic, Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Petros
P
Kechayas
3rd Psychiatric Clinic, "AHEPA" University Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Maria
M
Karagiannidou
1st Psychiatric Clinic, Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Konstantinos
K
Fokas
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations