title: A Comprehensive Review of the Quality and Feasibility of Dementia Assessment Measures: The Dementia Outcomes Measurement Suite.
abstract: The diagnosis of dementia and the management of its associated symptoms are aided by high-quality assessment tools. However, there is disagreement on the optimal tools among abundant alternatives and lack of consistent quality standards across the different domains of dementia-related change (ie, cognition, severity, function, behavioral and psychological symptoms, delirium, quality of life). Standardization is difficult because the relevance of a measurement tool for health professionals may depend on the clinical setting and on the dementia type and severity. To address this need, we conducted a comprehensive and clinically relevant evidence-based review of dementia-related tools and present a set of recommended tools, the Dementia Outcomes Measurement Suite. The review revealed that considerable development has occurred in terms of assessment of persons with mild cognitive impairment, executive dysfunction, cognitively mediated functional change, and apathy. More research is needed to develop and validate tools to assess health-related quality of life and specific symptoms of dementia including anxiety, wandering, and repetitive vocalizations. This extensive overview of the quality of different measures may serve as a guide for health professionals clinically and for researchers developing new or improved dementia assessment tools.
authors.affiliation: Dementia Collaborative Research Center (DCRC) Network, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bentvelzen
authors.affiliation: Dementia Collaborative Research Center (DCRC) Network, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aerts
authors.affiliation: Dementia Collaborative Research Center (DCRC) Network, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Seeher
authors.affiliation: Aging Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wesson
authors.affiliation: Dementia Collaborative Research Center (DCRC) Network, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, Australia; Center for Healthy Brain Aging (CHeBA), University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: h.brodaty@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brodaty
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans
keywords: Dementia; assessment; clinical; measure; outcome; screen