Global cognitive assessment in Basque-speaking people with dementia in advanced stages. Validation of the Severe Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE-eus) scale in Basque.
Year:
2018
Line of Knowledge: Psychosocial area
Author: Buiza, C., Yanguas, J., Zulaica, A., Anttón, I., Arriola, E., García, A.
Imagen:
Introduction
The adaptation and validation into Basque of tests for the assessment of advanced cognitive impairment is an unmet need for Basque-speaking elderly people. The present work carries out the validation study of the Severe Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE-eus) scale into Basque.
Material and methods
The study involved 109 subjects with advanced dementia (MEC < 15) classified according to the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) with GDS 5-7 and who were fluent in both Basque and Spanish.
Results
The results showed that the SMMSE-eus shows high internal consistency (α = 0.92), good test-retest reliability (r = 0.88; p < 0.01) and high inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.99; p < 0.00) for both the overall score and for each of the items.
Conclusions
Both the high internal consistency and the high level of inter-rater reliability and the results obtained in the test-retest make the SMMSE-eus an appropriate instrument as a brief scale in the assessment of severe cognitive impairment in Basque speakers. Therefore, the SMMSE-eus can be considered valid, reliable and an important alternative to assess cognitive ability in their native language, in this case Basque, in people with advanced dementia.