Discrepancies Between Community-Dwelling Individuals with Dementia and Their Proxies in Completing the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia: A Secondary Data Analysis

Figures & data

Table 1 Percentage of Missing Data for CSDD and FAQ

Dyad	Participant	Proxy
	CSDD	CSDD	FAQ
1	5.26	10.5	0
2	5.26	0	0
3	5.26	84.2	100
4	5.26	0	0
5	0	0	0
6	5.26	0	0
7	5.26	0	0
8	5.26	0	0
9	5.26	0	0
10	5.26	0	0
11	5.26	0	0
12	5.26	10.5	0
13	5.26	5.26	0
14	5.26	0	0
15	0	10.5	0
16	5.26	21.1	0
17	0	0	0
18	5.26	0	0
19	5.26	10.5	0
20	5.26	5.26	0
21	0	73.7	0
22	5.26	0	0
23	5.26	0	100
24	10.5	26.3	0
25	5.26	0	0

Note: The total scores were not calculated for those cases with bolded percentage of missing data.

Abbreviations: CSDD, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia; FAQ, Functional Activities Questionnaire.

Table 2 Baseline Demographic Characteristics of the Sample

	Participant with Dementia (n = 25)		Proxy (n = 25)
	N	%	N	%
Gender
Female	11	44.0	14	56.0
Male	14	56.0	11	44.0
Type of dementia
Alzheimer’s disease	23	92.0
Vascular dementia	1	4.0
Lewy body disease	1	4.0
Frontotemporal dementia	1	4.0
Missing	1	4.0^a
Location of dwelling
Metropolitan	18	72.0
Rural	7	28.0
Living arrangement
Lives with spouse or partner	19	76.0
Lives with family	4	16.0
Lives alone	2	8.0
Country of birth
Australia	19	76.0	20	80.0
Countries other than Australia	6	24.0	5	20.0
Language
English only	24	96.0	24	96.0
Languages other than English	1	4.0	1	4.0
Education
Postgraduate university degree	5	20.0	8	32.0
Vocational or undergraduate university degree	6	24.0	9	36.0
Years 11–12 or equivalent	5	20.0	6	24.0
Years 8–10 or equivalent	7	28.0	2	8.0
Missing	2	8.0	0	0
Relation to participant
Spouse or partner			24	96.0
Child			1	4.0

Note: ^aPercentages add up to more than 100% due to the possibility of multiple diagnoses per participant.

Table 3 Comparison of CSDD Between Participants and Proxies

	Proxy Mean(SD)	Participant Mean(SD)	Discrepancy Mean(SD)	95% CI	t-Statistic	df	p-value
CSDD	8.65(3.92)	5.13(3.44)	3.52(4.07)	1.76–5.28	4.15	22	<0.001***
Mood-related signs	2.87(1.63)	1.96(1.52)	0.91(1.78)	0.14–1.68	2.46	22	0.022*
Behavioral disturbance	2.05(1.36)	1.05(1.29)	1.00(1.45)	0.36–1.64	3.24	21	0.004**
Physical signs	0.91(0.90)	0.70(0.82)	0.22(0.90)	−0.17–0.61	1.16	22	0.26
Cyclic functions	1.43(1.40)	0.71(0.85)	0.71(1.52)	0.021–1.41	2.15	20	0.044*
Ideational disturbance	1.10(1.00)	0.76(1.00)	0.33(1.02)	−0.13–0.80	1.50	20	0.15

Notes: *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval; df, degree of freedom; CSDD, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia.

Table 4 Correlations Between FAQ Scores and CSDD Discrepancies Scores

Discrepancy Scores	n	FAQ
		τ	p-value
CSDD	22	0.38	0.018*
Mood-related signs	22	0.21	0.22
Behavioral disturbance	21	0.25	0.16
Physical signs	22	0.12	0.50
Cyclic functions	20	0.006	0.97
Ideational disturbance	20	0.16	0.38

Note: *p < 0.05.

Abbreviations: τ, Kendall’s tau-b; SD, standard deviation; FAQ, Functional Activities Questionnaire; CSDD, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia.