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The Diagnosis Of Dementia In Persons With Mental Retardation: Validating Methods Of Assessment, Joanne Bielecki

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The usual assessment instruments for the diagnosis of dementia are often difficult to use among individuals with mental retardation. This study investigates whether a modified method based on Visser et al. (1997) can identify a dementing process. Ninety individuals diagnosed with severe and profound mental retardation were studied. One half of the participants were diagnosed with Down's syndrome. The participants were equally assigned to one of three groups based on perceived risk of dementia. A differential prevalence design was used. Both cross sectional and longitudinal analyses were utilized in this study. Results indicate that the Visser et al. (1997) method …