Validation of the RUDAS for the identification of dementia in illiterate and low‐educated older adults in Lima, Peru: Epidemiology / Innovative methods in epidemiology (i.e., assessment methods, design, recruitment strategies, statistical methods, etc.)

Background To evaluate the performance of the Peruvian version of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS‐PE) to discriminate between controls and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in an illiterate population with low‐levels of education. Method We compared the cognitive performance of 187 elderly subjects who were illiterate (controls n=60; MCI n=64; dementia n=63). Neuropsychological measures included the RUDAS‐PE, Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE), INECO Frontal Screening (IFS), and Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire (PFAQ). Results were compared to a neuropsychological evaluation (gold standard), including use of Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores. Result We found a Cronbach’s alpha was 0.65; Spearman’s correlation coefficient was 0.79 (p < 0.01). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the RUDAS to discriminate dementia from MCI was 98.0% with an optimal cut‐off <19; whereas, to differentiate MCI and controls was 98.0% whit an optimal cut‐off <23. Conclusion Based on its excellent psychometric properties, we find the RUDAS‐PE suitable to aid in the opportune detection of dementia in a geriatric illiterate population with low‐levels of education.