title: End-stage dementia spark of life: reliability and validity of the "GATOS" questionnaire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fl oor effects are present in most dementia assessment tools as dementia progresses and the in-depth assessment of patients considered more or less on vegetative state is questionable.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop a questionnaire (the "Gatos Clinical Test-GCT") for the assessment of end-stage demented patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred patients with dementia of various causes and an MMSE score between 0 and 2 were enrolled in the study. The GCT consists of 14 closed type questions rated on a Likert scale. The total score is used to evaluate patient's dementia. Various aspects of validity and reliability (including face, content and structural validity as well as test-retest reliability) were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three subscales "Autonomy/Alertness", "Gnosias" and "Somatokinetic function" were defined, with a Cronbach equal to 0.851, 0.756 and 0.598 respectively. The GCT subscales and total score were statistically significant higher in patients with MMSE score 1 or 2 compared with those with MMSE score 0 (p<0.0005). Patients with GCT total score less than 12.5 had 75% probability to have zero MMSE score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The "GATOS" questionnaire is a valid and reliable test for patients with severe dementia, aiming at identification of those patients who could sustain some quality of life. It is a relatively short and easy to administer tool. As dementia prevalence is expected to rise further worldwide we believe that GCT could offer valuable services to health professionals, caregivers and patients.
authors: Gregory
authors: G
authors: Tsoucalas
authors: Stamati
authors: S
authors: Bourelia
authors: Vaso
authors: V
authors: Kalogirou
authors: Styliani
authors: S
authors: Giatsiou
authors: Eirini
authors: E
authors: Mavrogiannaki
authors: Georgios
authors: G
authors: Gatos
authors: Antonis
authors: A
authors: Galanos
authors: Olga
authors: O
authors: Repana
authors: Eleni
authors: E
authors: Iliadou
authors: Antonis
authors: A
authors: Antoniou
authors: Markos
authors: M
authors: Sgantzos
authors: 1Iroon Polytechniou and Ioanni Fatsi Str., P.C. 38500., Alykes, Volos, Greece. gregorytsoucalas@yahoo.gr.
authors: Konstantinos
authors: K
authors: Gatos
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods*; D014505:Urban Population