Application of cognitive scales to medical records of schizophrenia inpatients

The Scales of Cognitive Impairment Rated From Institutional Records (SCIRFI R), a battery based on commonly used dementia rating instruments, was teste d on the records of 26 chronically institutionalized, elderly schizophrenia patients, for the purpose of retrospectively evaluating the long-term cour se of cognitive change in schizophrenia and relating it to available autops y materials. The inter-rater reliability of the component scales was high ( Intraclass Correlations =0.78-0.96), the final item scores were comparable to ratings on living subjects, and Alzheimer-type neuropathological changes were associated with a markedly deteriorating course. The substantial pote ntial of this method is discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.