ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To translate the Dementia quality of life instrument (DQoL) into German and assess its construct and concurrent validity in community-dwelling people with mild to moderate dementia. METHODS: Dementia quality of life instrument data of two pooled samples (n=287) were analysed regarding ceiling and floor effects, internal consistency, factor reliability and correlations with corresponding scales on quality of life (Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease and SF-12), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination, Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - cognitive), depression (Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia) and activities of daily living (Interview of Deterioration in Daily Living Activities in Dementia). RESULTS: We found no floor effects (<2%), minor ceiling effects (1-11%), moderate to good internal consistency (Cronbach's α: 0.6-0.8) and factor reliability (0.6-0.8), moderate correlations with self-rated scales of quality of life (Spearman coefficient: 0.3-0.6) and no or minor correlations with scores for cognition, depression or activities of daily living (r<0.3). The original five-factor model could not be confirmed. CONCLUSION: The DQoL can be used in dementia research for assessing positive and negative affect, feelings of belonging and self-esteem. The findings suggest further research to improve the structure of the scales aesthetics, feelings of belonging and self-esteem.
Subject(s)
Dementia/psychology , Neuropsychological Tests , Quality of Life/psychology , Aged , Female , Humans , Language , MaleABSTRACT
This study is based on the hypothesis of a paraventricular cerebral noradrenaline deficit in alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome. In a randomized open study the effects of a 4-week treatment with the selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor reboxetine on (1) the salivary concentration of the noradrenaline metabolite MHPG and (2) changes in cognitive performance measured by the Mini Mental Status Test were examined. The study group consisted of 105 patients diagnosed with alcohol-related Korsakoff's syndrome (ICD-10: F10.6). Korsakoff's patients showed a reduced concentration of salivary MHPG compared to healthy controls; this reduction did not correlate with the results of the Mini Mental Status Test. An increase in salivary MHPG was found together with an improvement in the Mini Mental Status Test both in the verum group treated with reboxetine and in the control group upon completion of the 4-week study. However, a subgroup with a shorter duration of disease (<1 year) was found to profit significantly from reboxetine treatment, as shown by improvements in cognitive performance.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Amnestic Disorder/metabolism , Cognition Disorders/metabolism , Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol/metabolism , Morpholines/pharmacology , Saliva/drug effects , Alcohol Amnestic Disorder/drug therapy , Cognition Disorders/drug therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Morpholines/therapeutic use , Multivariate Analysis , Reboxetine , Saliva/metabolism , Statistics, NonparametricABSTRACT
The antipsychotic drug olanzapine was developed to reduce the risk of haematotoxicity. We report a case of agranulocytosis induced by olanzapine.
