Primary caregivers' awareness and perception of early-onset dementia conditions in adolescents and young and middle-aged adults with Down syndrome.
The DSQIID quickly screens for early dementia in Down syndrome, and higher scores link to older age and more health problems.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Huang et al. (2014) asked 196 caregivers of teens and adults with Down syndrome to fill out the DSQIID. This short survey screens for early signs of dementia.
Caregivers rated memory, mood, and daily-living changes. The team then looked at who scored high and what traits those people shared.
What they found
Only 2.6 % of the group screened positive for possible dementia on the DSQIID.
Older age, more severe disability, and extra health problems all pushed scores higher.
How this fits with other research
Williams et al. (2002) beat this team by twelve years. They used a cued recall test, not the DSQIID, and set a firm cut-off: 23 or below flags dementia with 94 % accuracy. Two tools, same goal.
Walley et al. (2005) back up the health-link clue. They counted medical problems in adults who already had Down syndrome plus Alzheimer's. More dementia stage meant more illnesses, matching the new finding that comorbidities raise DSQIID scores.
The papers do not clash; they just measure different pieces. One gives a memory cut-off, the other tracks caregiver-noticed changes.
Why it matters
If you serve adults with Down syndrome, add the DSQIID to your intake packet. It takes caregivers five minutes and spots red flags early. Pair it with the cued recall cut-off from Williams et al. (2002) for a fuller picture, and plan extra medical checks when scores climb.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study aims to investigate the onset of dementia conditions using the Dementia Screening Questionnaire for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (DSQIID) scale and to identify the possible factors associated with DSQIID scores in people with Down syndrome (DS). The study population was recruited from the voluntary registry members of the Republic of China Foundation for Persons with Down syndrome; primary caregivers provided DSQIID information on 196 adolescents and adults with DS (aged 15-48 years) who were entered into the database and analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software. The results described the distribution of early-onset dementia conditions in 53 adolescents and adults with DS, and 2.6% of the subjects with DS had possible dementia (DSQIID score ≧ 20). Univariate analyses found that older age (p=0.001) and comorbid conditions (p=0.003) were significantly associated with DSQIID scores. Older subjects were more likely to have higher DSQIID scores than were younger age groups after ANOVA and Scheffe's tests. Lastly, a multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age (p<0.01), severe disability level (p<0.05) and comorbid condition (p<0.01) significantly explained 13% of the variation in DSQIID scores after adjusting for the factors of gender, education level and multiple disabilities in adolescents and adults with DS. The study highlights that future research should focus on the occurrence of dementia in people with DS and on identifying its influencing factors based on sound measurements, to initiate appropriate healthy aging policies for this group of people.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.04.026