The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and test-retest reliability of the Welfare Quality® Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Growing Pigs. Twenty-three German pig farms were visited repeatedly by the same trained observers; each farm being visited six times during two fattening periods. The entire protocol assessment was carried out during each farm visit, ie a Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA), behavioural observations (BO), a Human Animal Relationship test (HAR) and different individual parameters (IPs), eg bursitis and tail-biting. Test-retest reliability was evaluated by a Wilcoxon signed rank test (W) and by calculation of the Smallest Detectable Change (SDC) and Limits of Agreement (LoA). The QBA presented non-satisfactory agreement between farm visits. However, good agreement, in general, was found for the BO. For the HAR, no reliability could be detected. Most IPs were of acceptable agreement, with the exception of bursitis and manure on the body. Bursitis showed great differences, which can be explained by difficulties in the assessment when the animals moved around or their legs were dirty. The disagreement in the parameter manure on the body can be explained by seasonal effects. Disagreement was further found concerning the parameters coughing, sneezing, pleuritis, pneumonia and milkspots. Feasibility was good; both observers could be well-trained to fulfil the protocol. Furthermore, the time needed for an assessment did not exceed 6 h. The parts of the protocol that proved to be insufficiently reliable need to be addressed in the future in order to enhance and improve the objective measurement of animal welfare.

The aim of the present study was to validate the Spanish Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) against external criteria of bonding disorder, as well as to establish its test-retest reliability. One hundred fifty-six postpartum women consecutively recruited from a perinatal mental health outpatient unit completed the PBQ at 4–6 weeks postpartum. Four weeks later, all mothers completed again the PBQ and were interviewed using the Birmingham Interview for Maternal Mental Health to establish the presence of a bonding disorder. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed an area under the curve (AUC) value for the PBQ total score of 0.93, 95% CI [0.88, 0.98], with the optimal cut-off of 13 for detecting bonding disorders (sensitivity: 92%, specificity: 87%). Optimal cut-off scores for each scale were also obtained. The test-retest reliability coefficients were moderate to good. Our data confirm the validity of PBQ for detecting bonding disorders in Spanish population.

Background: Tailor-made care in dementia requires an individual needs assessment. The Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE) was developed to assess needs of older people with mental disorders. In this study the validity and reliability of the Dutch version of the CANE were studied among community-dwelling persons with dementia and their informal carers.

Method: Interviews were carried out with 236 people with mild to severe dementia and 322 informal carers; 69 informal carers were interviewed twice. Construct and criterion validity and test-retest reliability of the CANE were studied using data for informal carers. Construct validity was also studied for CANE ratings of people with dementia.

Results: The construct validity of the CANE was good among people with dementia and informal carers. Criterion validity could be studied for 76.9% of the CANE items, and all significant correlations were convergent. Test-retest reliability of the CANE varied from poor to very good and was best on domains where needs were explicit and problems well defined.

Conclusions: Use of the Dutch version of the CANE among community-dwelling people with dementia and their carers is supported by the study results, with the study showing acceptable construct and criterion validity and test-retest reliability of the CANE.

Observation of figural reproductions of right temporal lobe epilepsy (RTLE) patients have revealed overall configuration errors, whereas in left temporal lobe epilepsy (LTLE) patients, the global aspect of performance is generally preserved. This study compared performance of individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (LTLE, n = 83; RTLE, n = 63) on a global/local modification of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT). In Phase I, neuropsychologists (n = 6) and neuropsychology fellows (n = 3) completed a survey identifying the global and local aspects of the RCFT. Questionnaire responses were used to categorize a list of global and local items (five global, five local) for re-scoring the protocols of TLE patients during study Phase II. Results showed that the RTLE and LTLE groups were not differentiated according to the global or local indices F(1,141) = .385; p = not significant. There were lower local scores for both groups in the copy F(1,142) = 5.23; p = .024, immediate F(1,142) = 445.26; p < .001, and delay trials F(1,142) = 427.82; p < .001, indicating less retention of local information over time. Results suggest general declines in figural memory for local stimulus properties in both unilateral TLE groups. However, this relationship was weakened after controlling for global and local item verbalizability. (JINS, 2006, 12, 383–390.)

Background: The present study aims to develop and validate a Chinese version of the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) for use with Chinese populations in psychogeriatric settings.

Methods: The DRS was translated into Chinese and its content validity was evaluated by an 11-member expert panel. To assess reliability and concurrent validity, 52 subjects with dementia were recruited from medical and psycho-geriatric settings using purposive sampling.

Results: With percentage of agreement as an indicator, 28 out of 36 items (78%) had satisfactory content validity. Items with a percentage of agreement below 70% were reviewed and modified, based on the comments of the experts. The CDRS had excellent test-retest and inter-rater reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) at 0.94 and 0.93 respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.75 and 0.89 for the subscales. The internal consistency of the CDRS subscale, as measured by Cronbach's α, ranged from 0.57 to 0.82. The CDRS had high correlations with the Chinese Mini-mental State Examination (r=0.80 for total score, r=0.58 to 0.84 for subscales.

Conclusions: The CDRS is a valid instrument for the assessment of dementia in Chinese–speaking subjects.