THE DIRECT ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONAL ABILITIES (DAFA) - A COMPARISON TO AN INDIRECT MEASURE OF INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING

The Direct Assessment of Functional Abilities (DAFA) was designed as a direct measure of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) tha t could be compared with an indirect assessment of IADLs by the Pfeffe r Functional Activities Questionnaire (PFAQ). The DAFA (28 demented an d 15 control subjects) and PFAQ (subjects and informants) were adminis tered twice, together with a brief cognitive battery. Demented subject s performed significantly worse on direct assessment (DAFA) than predi cted by self-report (PFAQ), and overestimation of abilities increased with severity of dementia. In contrast, informants tended to underesti mate abilities of demented subjects, but not to a significant degree, Control (nondemented) subjects had comparable results with the two met hods. The DAFA may provide a more objective measure of functional stat us in demented subjects than do indirect methods of assessment.