Reliability and Validity of Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale in Turkish Population

Gendered differences in the prevalence and associated factors of dementia in Ghana: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Dementia as a global phenomenon has received significant attention in research due to the adverse effects it has on the daily functioning of its victims. Despite studies conducted in relation to the prevalence and associated factors of dementia in Ghana, not much attention has been paid to the influence of gender. The study, therefore, focused on estimating gender differences in the prevalence and associated factors of dementia in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

METHODS

This study adopted a cross-sectional design with surveys to recruit 800 participants who were 45 years or older. The data was obtained using the standardized Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) together with information on the various associated factors. A series of logistic models comprising of the total sample model, male sample model, and female sample model were estimated to analyse the data. All data analyses were completed in Stata version 14.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of dementia was 23.38% [95% CI:20.44, 26.31]. More females 24.56% [95% CI:20.81, 28.31] compared to males 21.31% [95% CI:16.57, 26.04] were at risk of dementia. Younger age, attaining formal education, and belonging to richer households were negatively associated with the risk of dementia. In the total sample model, younger age and attaining formal education were negatively associated with dementia risk. In the male-female stratified models, education and household wealth index were negatively associated with dementia risk in the male sample while age and education were negatively related to dementia risk in the female sample.

CONCLUSION

The study concludes that there are gendered differences in the prevalence and factors associated with the risk of dementia in Ghana. As such, interventions and programmes to identify dementia cases must be gender sensitive. Specifically, when addressing dementia risk in males, interventions should be directed towards those with lower wealth status. Likewise, when developing programmes to mitigate dementia risk in women, particular attention should be given to women in the oldest age category.

Normalization of Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) in Chilean older people

Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) is a cognitive screening that evaluates older people with low educational levels. In Chile, there are no normative data to assess this population.

Objective

To obtain normative data on RUDAS in older Chilean people with up to 12 years of schooling, and to determine whether age and schooling years influence a person's performance on RUDAS and on the items that constitute it.

Methods

A group of cognitively healthy people 60 years old or over, with up to 12 schooling years was evaluated (n=135). Multiple regression models were applied to obtain normative data on RUDAS, according to age and schooling years, and to measure the effects of schooling on different items.

Results

Regression analysis showed that none of the items had schooling as a significant predictor, except for the visuoconstruction item. The variables age and schooling explained 12.6% (R^2=0.126) of the RUDAS total score variance. The item visuoconstruction was the most associated with the educational level (OR=1,147).

Conclusion

This study showed that RUDAS is a recommended instrument for evaluating older people with low educational levels. However, more studies are needed to prove the validity of the RUDAS on Chilean older people.

Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia

The current study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) in 100 patients aged ≥60 with dementia in Tehran, Iran. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were analyzed through intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach's alpha tests, respectively. The validity was assessed in the areas of face, content and structural validity. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) were also used to determine the convergent validity. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was equal to or more than 0.8 between the results of determining depression twice via the CSDD. The internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.90) was excellent. The factor analysis, identified five main factors (mood-related signs, behavioral disturbance, physical signs, cyclic functions and ideational disturbance), aside from depression, demonstrated the variance to be 37.88%. Evaluating convergent validity showed satisfactory results (p < 0001). Using the MADRS as standard. the best cut-points for the CSDD via the use of the Youden index were scores of 5.5, 10.5 and 16.5 for mild, moderate and severe depression, respectively. The Persian version of the CSDD is sufficient in terms of validity and reliability for screening depression in the elderly with dementia in Iran.

Validation of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale in Indonesia: Preliminary Evidence

The South-East Asia region has one of the fastest-growing aging populations, for which standardized dementia screening measures will be essential for geriatric care. The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) is adopted for use in the Indonesian setting but lacks evidence of its cross-cultural transportability. This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of scores from the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) in the Indonesian setting. Indonesian older adults from a geriatric nursing center (N = 135; 52 males, 83 females; age range 60-82) completed the Indonesian translation of the RUDAS (RUDAS-Ina), following content adaptation study with community living older adults (N = 35), nine neurologists and two geriatric nurses. For face and content validity, we utilized a consensus-building procedure. Results following confirmatory factor analysis yielded a single-factor model. The reliability of scores from the RUDAS-Ina was marginally satisfactory for research purposes (Cronbach α = 0.61). Multi-level linear regression for examining the association of the RUDAS-Ina scores with gender and age indicated older age to be associated with lower RUDAS-Ina scores. In contrast, the association with gender was not significant. Findings suggest a need to develop and validate locally generated items with cultural sensitivity to the Indonesian setting, which may also be studied in other Southeast Asian countries.

Reliability and validity of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale for patients with traumatic brain injury

Objective and accurate cognitive assessment scales are essential for guiding cognitive rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) for TBI and to verify the clinical application value. Fifty patients with TBI and 32 matched controls were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and a newly developed Chinese version of RUDAS. These scales were then compared for internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, test‒retest reliability, content validity, construct validity, and diagnostic efficacy. Among the TBI group, the RUDAS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.733), high inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] of 0.910‒0.999), and high test‒retest reliability (total score ICC = 0.938). The correlation coefficients between RUDAS total score and individual subscores were all > 0.5 except for body orientation (r = 0.363), indicating generally good content validity. Total RUDAS scores were moderately correlated with both MMSE total scores (r = 0.701, p < 0.001) and MoCA total scores (r = 0.778, p < 0.001), indicating good construct validity. Receiving operating characteristic curve analysis yielded comparable areas under the curve for diagnostic efficacy (RUDAS, 0.844; MMSE, 0.769; MoCA, 0.824; all p > 0.05). A RUDAS score cutoff of 23.5 distinguished TBI patients from controls with 60% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Therefore, the RUDAS demonstrates both good reliability and validity for evaluating cognitive impairments in TBI patients.

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Swedish Version of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS-S) for Multicultural Cognitive Screening in Swedish Memory Clinics

Background:

The number of people with a migration background and dementia is increasing in Europe. All patients with suspected dementia have the right to an appropriate cognitive assessment and correct diagnosis for optimal treatment and support. Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) cognitive screening instrument is less affected by language, culture, and educational background, and adapted for use in multicultural populations.

Objective:

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of RUDAS-S to the Swedish version of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-SR) for detecting dementia in a multicultural group of outpatients in Swedish memory clinics.

Methods:

We tested 123 outpatients (36 nonnative Swedish), in 4 memory clinics in Southern Sweden with RUDAS-S to supplement the usual cognitive assessment.

Results:

RUDAS-S had moderate to good diagnostic performance for detecting dementia in a multicultural population in Sweden, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.81. At a cutoff score <25 its sensitivity was 0.92, specificity 0.60, and accuracy 76%. The AUC for the MMSE-SR was 0.79. At a cutoff score <23 its sensitivity was 0.65, specificity 0.81, and accuracy 73%.

Conclusion:

RUDAS-S is at least as accurate as MMSE-SR for detecting dementia in memory clinics in Sweden and can be used for all patients undergoing a cognitive assessment, irrespective of their cultural, language, and educational background. However, there is a need for other cross-cultural cognitive tests to complement RUDAS-S to extend cognitive examination.

Cross-cultural dementia screening using the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

To quantitatively synthesize data on the accuracy of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) in different sociocultural settings and compare its performance to other brief screening instruments for the detection of dementia.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis. Literature searches were performed in PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL from January 1, 2004 until September 1, 2019.

SETTING

Community, outpatient clinic, and hospital settings in high-, and low- and middle-income countries.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-six studies reporting diagnostic accuracy of the RUDAS were included with almost 4000 participants, including approximately 1700 patients with dementia.

MEASUREMENTS

Procedures for translation and cultural adaption of the RUDAS, and influence of demographic variables on diagnostic accuracy, were compared across studies. Bivariate random-effects models were used to pool sensitivity and specificity results, and diagnostic odds-ratios and the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operator characteristic curve were used to present the overall performance.

RESULTS

The pooled sensitivity and specificity for the detection of dementia were .82 (95% CI, .78-.86) and .83 (95% CI, .78-.87), respectively, with an area under the curve of .89. Subgroup analyses revealed that the RUDAS had comparable diagnostic performances across high-, and low- and middle-income settings (z = .63, P = .53) and in samples with a lower and higher proportion of participants with no formal education (z = -.15, P = .88). In 11 studies making direct comparison, the diagnostic performance of the RUDAS was comparable to that of the Mini-Mental State Examination (z = -.82, P = .41), with areas under the curve of .88 and .84, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The RUDAS has good diagnostic performance for detecting dementia in different sociocultural settings. Compared to other brief screening instruments, advantages of the RUDAS include its limited bias in people with limited or no formal education and a minimal need for cultural or language adaptation.

Validation of the RUDAS for the Identification of Dementia in Illiterate and Low-Educated Older Adults in Lima, Peru

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of the Peruvian version of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS-PE) in discriminating between controls and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in an illiterate population with low-levels of education. Methods: We compared the cognitive performance of 187 elderly subjects who were illiterate (controls n = 60; MCI n = 64; dementia n = 63). Neuropsychological measures included the RUDAS-PE, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), INECO Frontal Screening (IFS), and Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire (PFAQ). The results were compared to a neuropsychological evaluation (gold standard), including use of Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores. Results: We found a Cronbach's alpha was 0.65; Spearman's correlation coefficient was 0.79 (p < 0.01). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the RUDAS to discriminate dementia from MCI was 98.0% with an optimal cut-off <19 (sensitivity 95%, specificity 97%); whereas, to differentiate MCI and controls was 98.0% with an optimal cut-off <23 (sensitivity 89%, specificity 93%). Conclusions: Based on its excellent psychometric properties, we find the RUDAS-PE suitable to aid in the opportune detection of dementia in a geriatric illiterate population with low-levels of education.