Validation of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale for Multicultural Screening in Danish Memory Clinics

TY - JOUR

T1 - Validation of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale for Multicultural Screening in Danish Memory Clinics

AU - Nielsen, Thomas Rune

AU - Andersen, Birgitte Bo

AU - Gottrup, Hanne

AU - Lützhøft, Jan

AU - Høgh, Peter

AU - Waldemar, Gunhild

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Background/Aims: The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) is a brief cognitive screening test that was developed to detect dementia in multicultural populations. The RUDAS has not previously been validated in multicultural populations outside of Australia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the RUDAS in a multicultural sample of patients referred to Danish memory clinics. Methods: Data were collected from 137 consecutive patients (34 with an immigrant background) in three Danish memory clinics. All patients were given the RUDAS as a supplement to the standard diagnostic workup. Results: Diagnostic accuracy for the RUDAS [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.838] was similar to that of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; AUC = 0.840). The cutoff score with the best balance of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy was <24/30 for the RUDAS (sensitivity 0.69, specificity 0.80) and <25/30 for the MMSE (sensitivity 0.76, specificity 0.83). In contrast to the MMSE, regression analyses revealed that the RUDAS was unaffected by factors related to the patients' immigrant backgrounds. Conclusion: The RUDAS showed high specificity and proved to be less affected by cultural and linguistic factors than the MMSE, making it a particularly valuable tool when screening for cognitive impairment in elderly multicultural patient populations.

AB - Background/Aims: The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) is a brief cognitive screening test that was developed to detect dementia in multicultural populations. The RUDAS has not previously been validated in multicultural populations outside of Australia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the RUDAS in a multicultural sample of patients referred to Danish memory clinics. Methods: Data were collected from 137 consecutive patients (34 with an immigrant background) in three Danish memory clinics. All patients were given the RUDAS as a supplement to the standard diagnostic workup. Results: Diagnostic accuracy for the RUDAS [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.838] was similar to that of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; AUC = 0.840). The cutoff score with the best balance of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy was <24/30 for the RUDAS (sensitivity 0.69, specificity 0.80) and <25/30 for the MMSE (sensitivity 0.76, specificity 0.83). In contrast to the MMSE, regression analyses revealed that the RUDAS was unaffected by factors related to the patients' immigrant backgrounds. Conclusion: The RUDAS showed high specificity and proved to be less affected by cultural and linguistic factors than the MMSE, making it a particularly valuable tool when screening for cognitive impairment in elderly multicultural patient populations.

U2 - 10.1159/000354375

DO - 10.1159/000354375

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24022429

SN - 1420-8008

VL - 36

SP - 354

EP - 362

JO - Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders

JF - Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders

IS - 5-6

ER -