PROPOSAL OF A LONG VERSION OF THE DISABILITY ASSESSMENT OF DEMENTIA (DAD-BR)

Abstract

There is no available functional assessment tool for elderly with cognitive decline that assess all Areas of Occupation (Basic Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Rest and Sleep, Education, Work, Leisure and Social Participation). A complete and meticulous assessment of the functional performance contributes to an accurate diagnosis, which will result in a treatment focused on skills and limitations of the subject. The objective of this study is to develop the long version of Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), based on the proposed version for use in Brazil. The lead author of DAD (Isabelle G é linas, McGill University, Canada) authorized the development of the long version, named in this study as DADL-Br. The first version of DADL-Br was referred to a committee of experts, composed of 5 Occupational Therapists with extensive experience in Gerontology, for the assessment of cultural and conceptual equivalence of the items that were included. After this analysis, the modified instrument (second version of DADL-Br) was referred to a multidisciplinary committee with extensive experience in the field (Geriatric, Speech Therapist, Physiotherapist and Nurse) who also analyzed the cultural equivalence of the proposed items, in order to finalize the content validation of the new instrument. The DAD-Br is composed of 10 domains subdivided into 40 items. In the first version of DADL-Br were added 10 new domains and 24 items. Through the analysis of the committee of experts, whose average of concordance for cultural equivalence was 93% and for conceptual was 85%, 2 items were excluded and 4 added. The second version was referred to the multidisciplinary committee, and after analysis, which resulted in a concordance of 93% of the cultural equivalence, 1 item was excluded and 3 added, resulting in an instrument with 20 domains subdivided into 68 items. The DADL-Br contemplates all Areas of Occupation present in daily life of the elderly with cognitive decline. It is worth mentioning, that the professional can apply it in full formal or choose the domain(s) that comprise the group(s) of activities that want to evaluate.