Psychometric Properties of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale

Abstract

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS), including its internal consistency, sensitivity to age and education effects, pattern of change scores, convergent validity and predictive utility. Age and education effects and stability were assessed in a sample of 280 cognitively normal persons over age 55. All other features were assessed in a sample of 274 persons with cognitive impairment, including 221 newly diagnosed dementia patients and 53 patients with mild cognitive impairment. Both samples were drawn from the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Patient Registry. Within the normal sample, Pearson correlation coefficients for DRS Total score with age, education and intelligence were all significant, p < .0001; MAYO Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) shared approximately 20% variance with DRS Total score. Internal consistency was greater than .7 for Construction, Conceptualization, Memory, and Total score, greater than .65 for Attention and less than .5 for Initiation and Perseveration. DRS subscale scores for Memory, Attention, and Conceptualization were significantly correlated with appropriate indices from the WAIS-R or Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, as assessed in the Mayo Older Americans Normative Studies, providing convergent validity for these DRS scales. Importantly, proportional hazards modeling revealed initial DRS Total score to be a significant predictor of longitudinal institutionalization and mortality outcomes.

Vascular health and cognitive function in older adults with cardiovascular disease

“…The battery included standard instruments with established reliability and validity 27,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] (see Table 2). All tests were administered and scored by a trained research assistant under the supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist, using standardized procedures.…”

Relation of Brain Natriuretic Peptide Levels to Cognitive Dysfunction in Adults >55 Years of Age With Cardiovascular Disease

“…2 The Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) is a commonly used neuropsychologic measure that is sensitive to dementia and cognitive decrease in older adults. [3][4][5] In addition to the DRS total score, 5 subtests assess function in different cognitive domains, namely, attention, initiation and perseveration, construction, conceptualization, and memory. The DRS was administered and scored according to established protocols by a trained research assistant.…”

Distinct cognitive profiles and rates of decline on the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale in autopsy-confirmed frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease

“…The MDRS is a widely used standardized mental status examination that provides a global measure of dementia derived from subscales for five cognitive capacities: attention, initiation and perseveration, construction, conceptualization, and memory. It is a reliable (Coblentz et al, 1973;Gardner et al, 1981;Smith et al, 1994;Vitaliano et al, 1984) and valid psychometric instrument for detecting and staging dementia (Gardner et al, 1981;Green et al, 1995;Monsch et al, 1995;Salmon et al, 1990;Shay et al, 1991;Smith et al, 1994;Troster et al, 1994;Woodard et al, 1996). Several studies have shown that the pattern of MDRS subscale scores can distinguish between AD and a variety of other dementing illnesses such as dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB; Aarsland et al, 2003;Connor et al, 1998), Parkinson's disease (Paolo et al, 1995), Huntington's disease (Paulsen et al, 1995;Rosser & Hodges, 1994;Salmon et al, 1989), and progressive supranuclear palsy (Rosser & Hodges, 1994).…”