| Abstract: | ![]()
Validity of the Mental Status Questionnaire (MSQ) was assessed by comparing the screening scores against a standardized psychiatric evaluation, the Clinical Interview Schedule. In a pilot study patients with dementia were divided into two subgroups: Mild and moderate/severe cases. Including patients with mild dementia in the dementia group, the best balance between sensitivity and specificity fell at cutoff point 1/2. The validity coefficients were as follows: Sensitivity 80.0%, specificity 60.5% positive predictive value 10.5%, negative predictive value 98.1%, and overall misclassification rate 38.5%Including mild dementia in the non-dementia group, we observed that with six errors in the questionnaire the validity coefficients for moderate/severe dementia were: sensitivity 100.0%, specificity 94.4%, positive predictive value 16.7%, negative predictive value 100.0%, overall misclassification rate 5.5%. A discriminant analysis was run in order to select the most discriminant MSQ items for detecting dementia. Factors associated with misclassification in the questionnaire were investigated. |
