Functional Disabilities Profile of Chinese Elderly People with Alzheimer’s Disease – A Validation Study on the Chinese Version of the Disability Assessment for Dementia

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the validity and applicability of the Chinese version of the Disability Assessment for Dementia (CDAD) in the Chinese elderly population. The original English version was translated and modified to a 47-item scale to suit the societal and cultural background of the Chinese population. The CDAD was administered to 169 community-residing Chinese elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.91), excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation, ICC = 0.99) and excellent interrater reliability (ICC = 0.98). The functional disabilities profile of the same sample was examined. The CDAD had a high negative correlation with the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS; Spearman’s ρ = –0.89, p< 0.001). ANOVA and post hoc comparisons showed there were significant differences in the mean CDAD scores across different GDS stages. To study the construct validity, the CDAD was administered concurrently with several instruments. The Instrumental Activities of Daily Living subscore of the CDAD had a high correlation with the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (r = 0.94,p< 0.001), and the Activities of Daily Living subscore of the CDAD had a high correlation with the Modified Barthel Index (r = 0.82, p < 0.001). A moderate correlation (r = 0.60, p < 0.001) with the Cantonese version of the Mini Mental State Examination was also found. Analysis of the relationship with sociodemographic factors indicated that the CDAD was not correlated with gender and education, and that the correlation with age was low. The CDAD was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument in assessing the functional disabilities of community-residing elderly subjects with AD in the Chinese population.

Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Disability Assessment for Dementia Scale

“…The results of this study are similar to other studies but this attempt included patients with a wide range of disease severity (27,29,31,32,34) …”

“…The disability assessment for dementia scale has so far been translated into several languages. One of the features that the original version and the validated and reliable versions in other languages have proven is that the scale has no biases towards gender, education and age (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34). Due to the advantages listed and lack of validated and reliable versions in Persian language in terms of everyday living activities, the presence of a Persian scale that can assess both scopes of ADL and IADL will be helpful in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with Alzheimer's.…”

“…With the exception of the item food preparation, based on the analysis carried out, like previous studies, the score obtained from DAD has no significant relationship with gender, education, and age. Moreover, one of the criteria of an ideal scale is the loss of orientation with respect to gender (27,29,(31)(32)(33)(34) …”

Adaptação transcultural da escala de avaliação de incapacidade em demência (Disability Assessment For Dementia - DAD)

“…A validação realizada na china teve também índices de correlação entre-examinadores e teste-reteste bastante elevados. No entanto, neste trabalho houve necessidade de se aumentar o número de questões na adaptação do instrumento 20 .…”

A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Chinese Medicine (Di-Tan Decoction) in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Increase in the total scores of the Chinese version of Mini-Mental State Examination (C-MMSE) [27,28] and Chinese version of Disability assessment for dementia score (C-DAD) [29] were used as secondary outcomes. Outcome measurements were carried out during the study visits at weeks 0 (baseline), 12 (half of treatment), 24 (end of treatment) and 30 (end of observation period).…”