Measuring awareness in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: Development of the Memory Awareness Rating Scale–adjusted

Abstract

Variations in level of awareness among people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may impact on well-being for the person with dementia and their carer, and may influence outcomes of cognitive rehabilitation interventions. Awareness has often been assessed using discrepancies between self and proxy rating or between self-rating and objective task performance, with the latter considered to be preferable. Measures are available that are suitable for people with mild AD, for example the Memory Awareness Rating Scale (MARS). However, these may be less appropriate for people whose impairments are more advanced and who consequently have more difficulty with the objective task component. In order to provide a measure suitable for people with moderate AD, an adjusted Memory Awareness Rating Scale (MARSA) was developed by altering the objective task component of the MARS. The MARSA was piloted with 41 participants with mild to moderate AD. It was found to be suitable for use with a broader group of participants than the MARS. The component ratings were found to have good internal consistency. The component ratings and the two indices of awareness had high test-retest reliability. The extension of the original measure offers the opportunity to consider awareness throughout the course of the disease and provides a basis for longitudinal investigations of awareness.