Abstract
Background: Fl oor effects are present in most dementia assessment tools as dementia progresses and the in–depth assessment of patients considered more or less on vegetative state is questionable. Objective: To develop a questionnaire (the “Gatos Clinical Test-GCT”) for the assessment of end-stage demented patients. Methods: Five hundred patients with dementia of various causes and an MMSE score between 0 and 2 were enrolled in the study. The GCT consists of 14 closed type questions rated on a Likert scale. The total score is used to evaluate patient’s dementia. Various aspects of validity and reliability (including face, content and structural validity as well as test-retest reliability) were examined. Results: Three subscales “Autonomy/Alertness”, “Gnosias” and “Somatokinetic function” were defined, with a Cronbach equal to 0.851, 0.756 and 0.598 respectively. The GCT subscales and total score were statistically significant higher in patients with MMSE score 1 or 2 compared with those with MMSE score 0 (p<0.0005). Patients with GCT total score less than 12.5 had 75% probability to have zero MMSE score. Conclusion: The “GATOS” questionnaire is a valid and reliable test for patients with severe dementia, aiming at identification of those patients who could sustain some quality of life. It is a relatively short and easy to administer tool. As dementia prevalence is expected to rise further worldwide we believe that GCT could offer valuable services to health professionals, caregivers and patients.
Keywords: Dementia, end-stage, questionnaire, reliability, validity.
Current Alzheimer Research
Title:End-Stage Dementia Spark of Life: Reliability and Validity of the “GATOS” Questionnaire
Volume: 12 Issue: 2
Author(s): Gregory Tsoucalas, Stamati Bourelia, Vaso Kalogirou, Styliani Giatsiou, Eirini Mavrogiannaki, Georgios Gatos, Antonis Galanos, Olga Repana, Eleni Iliadou, Antonis Antoniou, Markos Sgantzos and Konstantinos Gatos
Affiliation:
Keywords: Dementia, end-stage, questionnaire, reliability, validity.
Abstract: Background: Fl oor effects are present in most dementia assessment tools as dementia progresses and the in–depth assessment of patients considered more or less on vegetative state is questionable. Objective: To develop a questionnaire (the “Gatos Clinical Test-GCT”) for the assessment of end-stage demented patients. Methods: Five hundred patients with dementia of various causes and an MMSE score between 0 and 2 were enrolled in the study. The GCT consists of 14 closed type questions rated on a Likert scale. The total score is used to evaluate patient’s dementia. Various aspects of validity and reliability (including face, content and structural validity as well as test-retest reliability) were examined. Results: Three subscales “Autonomy/Alertness”, “Gnosias” and “Somatokinetic function” were defined, with a Cronbach equal to 0.851, 0.756 and 0.598 respectively. The GCT subscales and total score were statistically significant higher in patients with MMSE score 1 or 2 compared with those with MMSE score 0 (p<0.0005). Patients with GCT total score less than 12.5 had 75% probability to have zero MMSE score. Conclusion: The “GATOS” questionnaire is a valid and reliable test for patients with severe dementia, aiming at identification of those patients who could sustain some quality of life. It is a relatively short and easy to administer tool. As dementia prevalence is expected to rise further worldwide we believe that GCT could offer valuable services to health professionals, caregivers and patients.
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Tsoucalas Gregory, Bourelia Stamati, Kalogirou Vaso, Giatsiou Styliani, Mavrogiannaki Eirini, Gatos Georgios, Galanos Antonis, Repana Olga, Iliadou Eleni, Antoniou Antonis, Sgantzos Markos and Gatos Konstantinos, End-Stage Dementia Spark of Life: Reliability and Validity of the “GATOS” Questionnaire, Current Alzheimer Research 2015; 12 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567205012666150204122635
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567205012666150204122635 |
Print ISSN 1567-2050 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1875-5828 |
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