Evaluation of Screening Tools for Dementia in Older Adults With Mental Retardation

Abstract

We compared groups with and without diagnosed dementia matched on IQ, age, and presence of Down syndrome. The Dementia Scale for Down Syndrome and Dementia Questionnaire for Mentally Retarded Persons were used to assess participants. We developed two performance tasks to determine whether they were useful in separating subjects with and without dementia and also used the Reiss Screen. Both dementia scales and both performance tasks discriminated between groups. The dementia scales were not related to premorbid IQ, age, or gender, whereas performance tasks were related to dementia and IQ but not age or gender. Various Reiss Screen subscales also discriminated between groups. Subscales of the screening instruments and performance tasks were significantly related, indicating congruent validity. Logistic regression was conducted to assess which combination of tests discriminated best between groups.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Individuals with Down Syndrome and Williams Syndrome Compared with Typically Developing Controls

“…The DLD is often used to aid in the diagnosis of dementia in people with DS (Prasher, 1997;Shultz et al, 2004). No relationship between DLD-SOS score and any of the significant seven between-network pairs or for within-network connectivity was observed; however, there was a trend toward higher DLD-SOS scores (greater impairment) being associated with lower VAN and DAN within-network connectivity.…”

“…Postmortem studies have revealed that by 40 years of age, nearly all individuals with DS have lesions present in the brain that meet the pathological criteria for AD (Mann, 1988). Caregivers of participants with DS completed the dementia questionnaire for people with learning disabilities (DLD), which is commonly used to assess dementia in individuals with DS (Prasher, 1997;Shultz et al, 2004). The DLD is a 50-item questionnaire that consists of eight subtests to assess cognition and social skills.…”

Neuroimaging of individuals with Down’s syndrome at-risk for dementia: Evidence for possible compensatory events

“…One study (Shultz, Aman et al 2004) used the DMR and similar measures to differentiate between demented (n=19) and non-demented (n=19) adults with mental retardation, including Down syndrome. Dementia was determined by clinical interview and DSM-IV or ICD-10 criteria.…”

Alzheimer’s Disease in Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability: A Review

“…Kalsy (2002) recommended a battery consisting of the Dementia Scale for Down syndrome (DSDS; Gedye, 1995) or the DMR, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Sparrow, Balla & Cicchetti, 1984), the British Picture Vocabulary Scale (Dunn, Dunn, Whetton & Burley, 1997), the Crayton and Oliver test battery (Crayton, Oliver, Holland, Hall & Bradbury, 1998) and the Assessment of Adults with Developmental Disabilities (AADS; Kalsy, McQuillan, Oliver & Hall, 2002). The specialised questionnaires for assessing Alzheimer's symptoms in intellectual disability, the DMR and DSDS, have each been shown to be effective in identifying dementia, with the DMR being slightly more sensitive and specific (Shultz et al, 2004). Recent support has also been reported for the diagnostic utility of other measures.…”