RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE SPANISH VERSION OF THEGMS–AGECAT PACKAGE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF DEMENTIA AND COGNITIVE DISTURBANCES

✍ Scribed by PEDRO SAZ; JOSÉ L. DÍA; CONCEPCIÓN DE LA CÁMARA; SONIA CARRERAS; GUILLERMO MARCOS; ANTONIO LOBO

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 687 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199608)11:8<721::aid-gps358>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

This report confirms the reliability and validity of the Geriatric Mental State-Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy (GMS-AGECAT) package in a Spanish elderly population. No changes in the original English version are considered necessary. A representative sample ( N = 1080) of the elderly (65+ years) community in Zaragoza, Spain, stratified by age and sex was assessed. A two-phase screening was designed: phase I (lay interviewers): Spanish versions of GMS-AGECAT and Mini-Mental (MMSE); phase I1 (psychiatrists. N = 324): the same instruments and History and Aetiology Schedule (HAS). Diagnosis: DSM-111-R criteria. Stringent test-retest reliability coefficients were calculated by comparing lay interviewers' (phase I) vs psychiatrists' (phase 11) ratings. DSM-111-R psychiatric diagnoses in phase I1 were the gold standards for the validity study. Test-retest reliability coefficients of the cognitive sections of G M S were: casein0 case distinction, mean kappa = 0.71; dementia/no dementia distinction, mean kappa = 0.80. GMS validity coefficients: detection of cases, sensitivity = 98.4%; specificity = 76.5%. Test-retest reliability coefficients of AGECAT: casein0 case distinction, mean kappa = 0.59; organic syndrome, dementia, mean kappa = 0.68. Validity coefficients of AGECAT (psychiatrists' outputs): case/no case distinction, sensitivity = 90.6%; specificity = 89.3%; dementia/no dementia distinction, sensitivity = 86.4%; specificity = 94.3%.