Identifying a cutoff for dementia based on self-reported
everyday IADL performance 
   Lead Investigator:    Alden Gross
   Institution      :    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
   E-Mail           :    agross14@jhu.edu
   Proposal ID      :    1073



   Proposal Description:
   Validation an approach for linking functional impairment on the FAQ to the MDS  Aim: Validate an approach for quantifying IADL functional difficulty by linking MDS to FAQ for purposes of clinical interpretability.    Methods: We will use item response theory (IRT) methods to derive a score for     the difficulty items of the MDS, and co-calibrate the scale to the FAQ (using     NACC data) for purposes of enhancing clinical interpretability. Attached is a     preliminary study that used the FAQ from ADNI data however ADNI?s FAQ is coded differently than NACC?s and we believe NACC has greater clinical relevance.    Hypothesis: This is a project that involves psychometric scoring of IADL          functioning. As such, there is not really a place for scientific hypotheses.      That said, we do hypothesize that the functional impairment scale we develop      will distinguish normal from cognitively impaired older adults via ROC            analysis.