Dementia & Neuropsychologia ()

Applicability of a cognitive questionnaire in the elderly and proxy

  • Renata Areza Fegyveres,
  • Ana Paula Formigoni,
  • Cláudia Sellitto Porto,
  • Maria Teresa Carthery Goulart,
  • Mirna Lie Hosogi Senaha,
  • Sonia Maria Dozzi Brucki,
  • Valéria Santoro Bahia,
  • Paulo Caramelli,
  • Jerusa Smid,
  • Neuma D´Ávila Pinto Nogueira,
  • Sandra Maria Garaude Greven,
  • Letícia Lessa Mansur,
  • Ricardo Nitrini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1980-57642009DN20300012
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 3
pp. 228 – 232

Abstract

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Abstract The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly with the Proxy (IQCODE) was developed as a screening tool for cognition alterations. Objectives: 1) To verify the applicability of IQCODE in the elderly with limited schooling, 2) To verify the reliability of the responses supplied by the aged and their proxies. Methods: Individuals of a Community Group were evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), IQCODE and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The IQCODE was applied to informants and proxies. Results: We analyzed 44 individuals, aged between 58-82 years (M=66.8, SD=5.97) with mean elderly-schooling level of 3.75, SD=2.82 and 44 proxies aged 44.5 (SD=13.3), with mean schooling level of 8.25 (SD=4.3). The mean GDS was 8.22, SD=4.90 and 13 participants presented a score suggestive of depressive symptoms. The mean elderly IQCODE score was 3.26, SD=0.69 and 3.21, SD=0.65, for proxy responses. There was no statistical difference between these means. On the MMSE, the mean score was 24.20, SD=4.14 and 18 participants presented scores below the cut-off. The IQCODE answers by the elderly in this latter group were more congruent with MMSE than the answers of proxies. Conclusions: The applicability of the IQCODE in a population with little schooling was verified in that the proxy-report was similar to the elderly report. We can affirm that the elderly answers were more accurate than the proxies, as they were closer to MMSE score. The inclusion of a greater number of participants from community-dwelling settings is necessary to confirm the results obtained in this study.

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