Cultural adaptation and validation of the social functioning in dementia scale (SF‐DEM) in Taiwanese patients with dementia

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe social functioning in dementia scale (SF‐DEM) is a 20‐item interviewer‐administered questionnaire, with patient‐ and carer‐rated versions. It was the first test designed to measure social function in people with dementia. It has not been validated in people with dementia in a Taiwanese population. We aimed to culturally adapt then validate the SF‐DEM in Taiwan and explore correlates of social functioning.MethodWe culturally adapted the SF‐DEM for Taiwan (T‐SF‐DEM) according to guidelines and tested it with people with clinically diagnosed dementia and their caregivers in Northern Taiwan We used descriptive and correlation analysis to explore how scores relate to the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination III (ACE‐III) and Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease (QoL‐AD).ResultWe recruited 12 people aged 45 to 100 with dementia (5 Alzheimer’s disease, 4 Vascular dementia, 1 Parkinson’s disease dementia, and 2 mixed. All patients and 11/12 (92%) of carers completed the SF‐Dem. Nine participants (75%) scored 0.5 on CDR and three (25%) scored 1. The mean ACE‐III score was 64.4 (standard deviation (SD) 11.9). The mean scores of patients and their carers for the sub‐domains of “spending time with other people (max 21 points)” were 3.3 (3.1) and 4.9 (3.4), for “communicating with other people (max 18)” were 5.7 (4.0) and 5.4 (3.8), for “sensitivity to other people (max 12)” were 10.9 (1.8) and 8.7 (2.6). The correlation between carer‐ and patient‐ratings was low (r = 0.33). There was a moderate correlation of the carer‐rated SF‐DEM with ACE (r = 0.66) and carer‐rated quality of life (r = 0.44). Seventy‐five percent of patients stated that they did not want to change their social life, while 100% of the carers stated they would like the patients’ social life to change.ConclusionThe T‐SF‐DEM is an acceptable test for measuring social function in Taiwanese populations in memory clinic settings. Patients scored low on social contact as they were isolated due to the pandemic. We will test SF‐DEM in more patients and report the results.