Italian version of the short 10/66 dementia diagnostic schedule: a validation study

Objectives To determine the criterion and concurrent validity of the Italian version of the short 10/66 Dementia Diagnostic Schedule and algorithm in a sample of Italian native speakers, older adults. Design A cross-sectional, validation study. Setting The study was conducted with older adults living in the community and in nursing homes in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, and the Piedmont region in Italy between March and August 2019. Participants A convenience sample of 229 participants (69% females) were recruited. The eligibility criteria were being >= 60 years old and having an informant. The final sample included 74 participants (32%) with a previous clinical diagnosis of dementia and 155 (68%) cognitively healthy older adults. Primary and secondary outcome measures The short version of 10/66 Dementia Diagnostic Schedule consists of the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) 10-word list learning task with delayed recall and the depression scale, Euro-Depression (EURO-D) scale. Disability was measured using the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS II). Results The Italian version of the short 10/66 Dementia Diagnostic Schedule showed fair sensitivity (87%), specificity (61%) and agreement with the clinical diagnosis of dementia (kappa=0.40, area under the receiver operating characteristics curve=0.74). Older adults with dementia living in nursing homes had higher disability scores (WHO-DAS II mean=23.14, SE=1.29) than those living in the community (WHO-DAS II mean=7.08, SE=0.66). WHO-DAS II was positively correlated with the short version of the 10/66 dementia diagnosis (beta=5.23, 95% CI 2.05 to 8.41). Conclusions In settings where lengthy diagnostic procedures are not feasible, the short 10/66 is a practical tool to identify dementia in older adults. Our findings extend evidence on the validity of the 10/66 dementia diagnostic algorithm to high-income countries, where epidemiological evidence on dementia and its impact is outdated.

Automated summary

The study aimed to determine the criterion and concurrent validity of the Italian version of the short 10/66 Dementia Diagnostic Schedule in a sample of Italian native speakers, older adults. The results showed the tool had fair sensitivity and specificity in identifying dementia, and disability scores were higher in dementia patients living in nursing homes. The study provides evidence on the validity of the 10/66 dementia diagnostic algorithm in high-income countries.