ABSTRACT
Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) is a cognitive screening that evaluates older people with low educational levels. In Chile, there are no normative data to assess this population.
Objective:
To obtain normative data on RUDAS in older Chilean people with up to 12 years of schooling, and to determine whether age and schooling years influence a person’s performance on RUDAS and on the items that constitute it.
Methods:
A group of cognitively healthy people 60 years old or over, with up to 12 schooling years was evaluated (n=135). Multiple regression models were applied to obtain normative data on RUDAS, according to age and schooling years, and to measure the effects of schooling on different items.
Results:
Regression analysis showed that none of the items had schooling as a significant predictor, except for the visuoconstruction item. The variables age and schooling explained 12.6% (R^2=0.126) of the RUDAS total score variance. The item visuoconstruction was the most associated with the educational level (OR=1,147).
Conclusion:
This study showed that RUDAS is a recommended instrument for evaluating older people with low educational levels. However, more studies are needed to prove the validity of the RUDAS on Chilean older people.
Keywords:
Dementia; Aged; Literacy; Mental Status and Dementia Tests
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