SELF-RATING AND INFORMANTS RATING OF CLIN ICAL DISORDERS IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The correlations between (a) the patients' memory complaints, (b) the informants' rating of the patients' cognitive impairment, and (c) cogn itive performance according to the Cambridge Examination for Mental Di sorders of the Elderly (CAMDEX) were examined in 163 patients with pro bable or possible Alzheimer's disease. The patients' complaints were w eakly correlated with the informants' view (p<0.05), closely correlate d with depressive mood (p<0.0001), but not with cognitive performance or the stage of dementia. The results of Clinical Dementia Rating, Min i-Mental State Examination and the Cambridge Cognitive Examination wer e significantly correlated with the informants' rating of cognitive im pairment (p<0.0001). These results are in line with previous studies a nd confirm (1) the suitability of CAMDEX for the structured examinatio n of dementia patients and their caregivers, (2) the association betwe en affective disturbances and the perception of cognitive deficits, an d (3) the importance of informants' rating for the valid evaluation of demented patients.