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Reliability of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) for patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2007

Ana Luiza Camozzato ,
Renata Kochhann ,
Camila Simeoni ,
Cássio A Konrath ,
Adelar Pedro Franz ,
André Carvalho  and
Márcia L. Chaves
Ana Luiza Camozzato
Affiliation:
Alzheimer's Disease and Neurogeriatric Clinic, Neurology Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Porto Alegre, Brazil
Renata Kochhann
Affiliation:
Undergraduate students (CNPq or FAPERGS research assistants), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
Camila Simeoni
Affiliation:
Undergraduate students (CNPq or FAPERGS research assistants), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
Cássio A Konrath
Affiliation:
Undergraduate students (CNPq or FAPERGS research assistants), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
Adelar Pedro Franz
Affiliation:
Undergraduate students (CNPq or FAPERGS research assistants), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
André Carvalho
Affiliation:
Medical Sciences Post-Graduation Course, UFRGS School of Medicine, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Márcia L. Chaves*
Affiliation:
Alzheimer's Disease and Neurogeriatric Clinic, Neurology Service, HCPA, and Internal Medicine Department, UFRGS School of Medicine, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Abstract

Background: Behavioral symptoms and caregivers' responses may differ among various ethnic and cultural groups. Therefore it is important to have a reliable instrument to assess behavioral disturbances of dementia in various cultures. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) has been widely used in many countries. To date there has been no reliability study of this instrument in Brazil.

Methods: The psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the NPI were studied in a sample of 36 Alzheimer's disease (AD) outpatients from southern Brazil. Test-retest, inter-rater reliability and internal consistency were estimated. The profile of neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver distress were also evaluated. The NPI was translated into Portuguese and then back translated to English.

Results: The Brazilian Portuguese version of the NPI showed good inter-rater and test-retest reliability with the coefficients of all scales > 0.85. Internal consistency was also good (Cronbach's α 0.70 for total severity and distress). Apathy provided higher NPI scores of total severity and distress.

Conclusions: This NPI version was found to be a reliable instrument for the evaluation of neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver distress due to dementia in AD. The profile of behavioral disturbances was similar to that observed in other countries. Severity of dementia may have biased some caregivers' answers.

Keywords

dementiaAlzheimer's diseaseneuropsychiatric symptomsBrazil
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 2008 , pp. 383 - 393
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2007

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