Caregivers as informants have a crucial role in providing useful information in the diagnosis of dementia. If you have observed that an elderly person in your family has displayed significant decline in his or her memory and general cognitive state, but are not sure whether such changes were due to normal ageing or dementia, you can use the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQ-CODE) as a screening tool to assess the functioning of the person.
The IQ-CODE was developed by Dr. Anthony Jorm. It is a widely used screening tool for dementia. Research has revealed that it has high reliability, sensitivity and specificity, and it is very useful in differentiating between elderly people suffering from dementia and those experiencing normal ageing.
Special thanks are given to Dr. Anthony Jorm for his kind permission for us to post the IQ-CODE on our website.
Now we want you to remember what your friend or relative was like 10 years ago and to compare that with what he or she is like now. Below are situations in which this person has to use his or her memory or intelligence and we want you to indicate whether this has improved, stayed the same or worsened in that situation over the past 10 years. Note the importance of comparing his or her present performance with that of 10 years ago. So if 10 years ago this person always forgot where he or she had left things, and he or she still does so, then this would be considered "Hasn't changed much." Please indicate the changes you have observed by checking the appropriate answer.
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