ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The present study aims to examine the reliability and validity of a Korean version of the CAMCOG-R(CAMCOG-RK) in a clinical setting and an institution, that have been widely used to detect early dementia. METHODS: Study participants included 243 dementia sufferers, 68 mild cognitive impairment(MCI) suffers and 354 non-demented subjects. DSM-IV clinical criteria for dementia and Petersen's criteria for MCI were used as the 'gold' standards. The CAMCOG-R was translated into Korean and then back to English. Six items needed modifications for local usage. RESULTS: Interrater and test-retest scores calculated as intraclass correlation coefficients showed excel- lent for total score and all subscale scores of CAMCOG-RK. A strong concurrent validity was found with the MMSE-K score(r=0.82, p<0.01). Examination of the association between CAMCOG-R scores and socio- demographic variables(age, sex, and education) shows that age and education exerts a significant, and independent, effect upon performance. The eight age and education-specific cutoff point for dementia and MCI provided excellent sensitivity and specificity mostly more than 90%. CONCLUSION: The CAMCOG-RK was found to be an appropriate instrument to discriminate between demented and non-demented individuals and between individuals with MCI and without MCI in a clinical setting. Further studies should examine the psychometric characteristics of the CAMCOG-RK in a more varied sample.