Interrater reliability of the short-memory questionnaire in a variety of health professional representatives

A study was performed to assess interrater reliability of the Japanese vers ion of the Short-Memory Questionnaire (SMQ), which is an easily-administere d, informant-based scale of cognitive function. The subjects were 18 consec utive patients with Alzheimer's disease who were outpatients of Department of Neuropsychiatry in Ehime University School of Medicine and their princip al caregivers. One neuropsychiatrist (NP) administered the SMQ, and all ses sions were videotaped. Then one nurse (Ns), one clinical psychologist (CP), one occupational therapist (OT), and one neurologist (NL) from another ins titution viewed the videotape and performed reassessments independently. In terrater reliability between the NP and Ns, CP, OT, or NL were all extremel y good. Interrater reliability between the Ns and CP, between the Ns and OT , between the Ns and NL, between the CP and OT, between the CP and NL, and between the OT and NL were also extremely good. The SMQ is a convenient, qu antitative scale, and in this study it showed good interrater reliability b etween personnel from different fields. Therefore, it is a very useful test for everyday medical consultations and for clinical research. Copyright (C ) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.