Awareness of Disease in Dementia: Factor Structure of the Assessment Scale of Psychosocial Impact of the Diagnosis of Dementia

Despite the growing understanding of the conceptual complexity of awareness, there currently exists no instrument for assessing different domains of awareness in dementia. In the current study, the psychometric properties of a multidimensional awareness scale, the Assessment Scale of Psychosocial Impact of the Diagnosis of Dementia (ASPIDD), are explored in a sample of 201 people with dementia and their family caregivers. Cronbach's alpha was high (alpha = 0.87), indicating excellent internal consistency. The mean of corrected item-total correlation coefficients was moderate. ASPIDD presented a four-factor solution with a well-defined structure: awareness of activities of daily living, cognitive functioning and health condition, emotional state, and social functioning and relationships. Functional disability was positively correlated with total ASPIDD, unawareness of activities of daily living, cognitive functioning, and with emotional state. Caregiver burden was correlated with total ASPIDD scores and unawareness of cognitive functioning. The results suggest that ASPIDD is indeed a multidimensional scale, providing a reliable measure of awareness of disease in dementia. Further studies should explore the risk factors associated with different dimensions of awareness in dementia.