Validity of the Short-Memory Questionnaire in vascular dementia.

Abstract

To determine whether the Short-Memory Questionnaire (SMQ) being administered by caregivers to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is also valid when given to patients with vascular dementia (VaD). Subjects were 58 patients with VaD, 26 patients with cerebrovascular disorders free of cognitive deficit (CVD) and 62 healthy controls. All subjects received the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and their primary caregivers (or family members with same household) received the SMQ. In the VaD patients, the SMQ score was highly correlated with the MMSE score. When 39/40 was defined as a cutoff point based on the results of previous study, the SMQ properly classified 55 of the 58 VaD patients and 61 of the 62 controls, but only about half of the 26 CVD patients, as cases. The SMQ, a simple quantitative rating test for memory disturbance, is useful for the assessment and screening of VaD patients as well as AD patients, although careful attention should be paid to the assessment of CVD patients.