Caregiver and clinician assessment of behavioral disturbances: the California Dementia Behavior Questionnaire

Int Psychogeriatr. 1997 Jun;9(2):155-74. doi: 10.1017/s1041610297004316.

Abstract

As part of a multicenter project to study noncognitive behavioral disturbances in dementia, the authors developed a comprehensive caregiver-rated questionnaire for these behaviors. The authors determined the reliability of caregiver ratings and compared caregiver ratings with clinician ratings using standard instruments. Caregivers showed good test/retest reliability for ratings of all types of patient behavioral disturbance. Caregiver interrater reliability was highest for depression and lowest for psychosis. The correlation between caregiver reports and professional assessments was highest for agitation, intermediate for psychosis, and lowest for depression. The match between caregiver and clinician assessments of patient behaviors appears to vary significantly by the type of behavior assessed.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / classification
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis*
  • Alzheimer Disease / psychology
  • Caregivers / psychology
  • Dementia / classification
  • Dementia / diagnosis*
  • Dementia / psychology
  • Depressive Disorder / classification
  • Depressive Disorder / diagnosis
  • Depressive Disorder / psychology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neurocognitive Disorders / classification
  • Neurocognitive Disorders / diagnosis
  • Neurocognitive Disorders / psychology
  • Neuropsychological Tests / statistics & numerical data*
  • Observer Variation
  • Pilot Projects
  • Psychometrics
  • Psychomotor Agitation / classification
  • Psychomotor Agitation / diagnosis
  • Psychomotor Agitation / psychology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Social Behavior Disorders / classification
  • Social Behavior Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Social Behavior Disorders / psychology