Validation of the full and short forms of the CAMDEX interview for diagnosing dementia: Evidence from a one-year follow-up study

The sensitivity and specificity of the two forms of the CAMDEX interview for dementia diagnosis were assessed in a 1-year follow-up study. At the beginning of the study, 60 patients (22 males and 38 females) who met DSM-IV criteria for dementia and 60 matched controls (15 males and 45 females), were administered the short form of the CAMDEX (short CAMDEX) 3 months after the full one (full CAMDEX). At the follow-up, all patients were administered both the full and short CAMDEX (again with a 3-month interval), whereas controls were administered either CAMDEX form (in any case, at a 12-month interval from initial testing). Upon initial testing, the sensitivity of the full CAMCOG proved to be significantly higher than that of the short CAMCOG, while the opposite trend was observed for specificity, that is the sensitivity of the full Organicity was lower than that of the short Organicity, with specificity remaining equal in the two forms. Upon follow-up, the specificity and sensitivity levels of the two forms did not significantly differ for the CAMCOG and Organicity indices. Moreover, in detecting mildly demented patients, the full CAMCOG proved to be more accurate than the short one, while the opposite trend was observed for Organicity. Among the dementia subjects, significant correlations were found between the homologous indices of the two forms for both test sessions. On the whole, the short CAMDEX appears to maintain most of the psychometric properties of the full version and therefore the two CAMDEX forms can be considered to be interchangeable.