Functional Disability in Alzheimer Disease A Validation Study of the Turkish Version of the Disability Assessment for Dementia Scale

This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) scale in the Turkish elderly population with Alzheimer disease (AD). The DAD scale was administered to the primary caregivers of 157 patients (age 77.7 ± 6.8 years) with AD. The Turkish version of the DAD scale showed high internal consistency (Cronbach α = .942), excellent test–retest, and interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.996 and ICC = 0.994, respectively). The DAD scale was significantly correlated with activities of daily living (ADL; Modified Older Americans Research Survey ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL; Lawton and Brody IADL) scales (r = .89, P < .001 and r = .90, P < .001). Disability Assessment for Dementia had a high negative correlation with the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS; r = −.880, P < .001). Post hoc comparisons with Tukey test showed significant differences in the mean DAD scores in different GDS stages....