Reliability, validity, and diagnostic accuracy of Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale in Iranian patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

PURPOSE: To investigate the reliability and validity of Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS) in Iranian patients with idiopathic PD. METHODS: One hundred and eighty patients with PD and 60 age-, gender-, and educational level-matched healthy individuals participated in this study. Inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Persian version of PD-CRS was investigated in 80 patients with PD. To evaluate the construct validity of the PD-CRS, its correlation with the Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Cognition (SCOPA-Cog), Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Clock Drawing Test, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-Section I, and Quick Dementia Rating System was assessed. To assess the diagnostic accuracy of the PD-CRS, patients with PD were classified as groups with normal cognitive function, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia using the Clinical Dementia Rating. RESULTS: Test-retest and inter-rater reliability (ICC > 0.90), as well as internal consistency (α = 0.94) of the Persian version of PD-CRS, were excellent. A high positive correlation was found between the PD-CRS and SCOPA-Cog. A cut-off point of ≤79 (sensitivity 98.15% and specificity 98.04%) and ≤62 (sensitivity 100%, and specificity 100%) on the PD-CRS total score was obtained for detecting MCI and dementia in PD patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that the Persian version of PD-CRS is a reliable and valid measure with high sensitivity and specificity to identify MCI and dementia in patients with PD.Implications for rehabilitationThe PD-CRS has an excellent test-retest and inter-rater reliability and validity in Iranian patients with PD.The PD-CRS has high sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between different levels of cognitive impairment (i.e. no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia) in Iranian patients with PD.

Clinical assessment of Persian translation of Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale in community-dwelling older adults.

Background: Aging increases the probability of falling. Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale is developed to assess balance and the purpose of this study is examination of the validity and reliability of Persian version of the scale in Iranian community-dwelling older adults.Methods: The "forward-backward" procedure was applied for translation. Content validity was calculated by agreement of experts. For evaluation concurrent criterion validity, correlation of Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale with Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go Test, and Functional Reach Test was measured. Retrospective self-report of fall was applied for considering predictive criterion validity. For assessment of construct validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Kappa Coefficient, standard error of measurement (SEM), and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess reliability.Results: Content validity was acceptable (0.8-1). Concurrent criterion validity was calculated moderate-good (Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale with Berg Balance Scale, Berg Balance Scale static, and Berg Balance Scale dynamic: 0.65, 0.68, and 0.44. Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale with Timed Up and Go Test and Functional Reach Test: -0.77 and 0.6, respectively). Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale had an inverse linear relationship with fall probability. In factor analysis, two factors were extracted. ICC (95% confidence interval) for both test-retest and inter-rater reliability (0.92 and 0.72-1) was excellent (0.97 and 0.92) and Kappa for both test-retest and inter-rater reliability was good. SEM at test-retest reliability (0.17) and inter-rater reliability (1.25) was good. Excellent homogeneity was got (Cronbach's alpha: 0.84).Conclusions: The Persian version of the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale is a reliable and valid tool for measuring balance in Iranian community-dwelling older adults.Implications for rehabilitationExistence of a scale that measures the balance in high-performance individuals, as well as small changes in balance is essential in rehabilitation.Obtaining the validity and reliability of the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale, which has the mentioned characteristics in older adults, enhances rehabilitation interventions in these population.

Prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in adolescence in Ahvaz, Iran.

BACKGROUND: High blood pressure is a risk factor for some disease like stroke, coronary heart disease, and renal failure. High blood pressure in children is an increasing health problem. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension age between 10 to 17 years old. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This descriptive analytic study was conducted using multiphase sampling method in Ahvaz (Southwest of Iran). A questionnaire include: height, weight, and body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures filled for each participant. Blood pressure was measured twice for each person. For the diagnosis of hypertension, the fourth report of the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents of the National Health Institute of United States was used. RESULTS: Total participants of the study were 1707children and adolescents including 922 boys (54%) and 785 girls (46%). The prevalence of high blood pressure was 1.7% (2.5% in boys and 0.8%). The prevalence of pre-hypertension was 9%(7.6% in boys, 10.6% in girls). The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures increased with increasing body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of high blood pressure was found to be lower than other studies in our country. The prevalence of the high blood pressure in boys was significantly higher than girls. This study, like other studies showed high correlation between being overweight and an increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.