Performance of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) as a screening test for dementia

Abstract

SYNOPSISA 26-item informant questionnaire (IQCODE) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were compared as screening tests for dementia in a sample of 69 patients. Dementia diagnoses were made by both a clinician and a research interview using a computer algorithm to meet DSM-III-R and ICD-10 (Draft) criteria. The IQCODE was found to perform at least as well as the MMSE against all diagnoses and significantly better when judged against the algorithmic ICD-10 diagnoses. Also, the IQCODE was found to be uncontaminated by pre-morbid ability as estimated from the National Adult Reading Test and to have very high test–retest reliability after a delay of a day or more.

Everyday functioning in relation to cognitive functioning and neuroimaging in community-dwelling Hispanic and Non-Hispanic older adults

“…Functional assessment-Change in everyday behavior associated with cognitive decline was assessed using the IQCODE (Jorm et al, 1991;Jorm & Jacomb, 1989;Jorm & Korten, 1988). This is a 26-item interview-based questionnaire completed by an informant familiar with the participant.…”

“…Both the English and Spanish versions of the IQCODE have been published in their entirety elsewhere (Jorm, 1994;Morales et al, 1995). The IQCODE has been shown to have high internal consistency, with alphas ranging from .93 to .95 (Jorm & Jacomb, 1989) and good test-retest reliability, both over a few day period (r = .96) and over 1 year (r = .75) (Jorm & Jacomb, 1989;Jorm et al, 1991). The IQCODE also has limited association with education (Fuh et al, 1995;Jorm & Jacomb, 1989).…”

“…The IQCODE also has limited association with education (Fuh et al, 1995;Jorm & Jacomb, 1989). A number of studies have shown that it is a sensitive indicator of dementia (sensitivity = .86 and specificity = .80) (Jorm, 1997;Jorm et al, 1991;Morales et al, 1997) and correlates with brief cognitive screening measures such as the MMSE (r = −.65) (Flicker et al, 1997). Examples of IQCODE items are included in the Appendix.…”

Degree of discrepancy between self and other‐reported everyday functioning by cognitive status: dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and healthy elders

“…The IQCODE (Jorm and Korten, 1988;Jorm and Jacomb, 1989;Jorm et al, 1991) was used as a measure of functional change in the determination of clinical diagnosis. This is a 26-item interview-based questionnaire completed by an informant familiar with the participant.…”

“…The IQCODE has been shown to have high internal consistency, with alphas ranging from 0.93 to 0.95 (Jorm and Jacomb, 1989) and good test-retest reliability, both over a few day period (r =0.96) and over one year (r =0.75) (Jorm and Jacomb, 1989;Jorm et al, 1991). A number of studies have shown that it is a sensitive indicator of dementia (sensitivity =0.86 and specificity =0.80) (Jorm et al, 1991;.…”