Clinical Assessment

KBASE Clinical Assessment and Consensus Diagnostic Conferences

Participants were administered standardized clinical assessments by trained board-certified psychiatrists based on the KBASE clinical assessment protocol which incorporated the CERAD-K clinical assessment.
KBASE clinical assessment includes

Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) rated by trained board-certified psychiatrists.

A standardized interview form based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV) required for the diagnosis of present and past major depressive episodes.

The Blessed Dementia Scale-Activity of Daily Living (BDS-ADL)

Physical and neurological examinations performed by clinicians

Consensus diagnostic conferences Allocation of individuals to one of the four diagnostic groups and exclusion of ineligible individuals were undertaken by a clinical review panel chaired by principal investigator at a weekly clinical review panel meeting. This panel consisted of several board-certified psychiatrists, clinical neuropsychologists, and psychometrists who trained for research in geriatric psychiatry and dementia.

Medical/Neurological/Psychiatrical comorbidities

Systematic interviews with participants and their informants by trained nurses were performed to obtain information as follows:

Detailed demographic variables including education and occupation

Current and past medical comorbidities

Vascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, stroke, and transient ischemic attack (TIA)

Family history (FH) of dementia

Use of medication and nutraceuticals,

Smoking, alcohol, and coffee intake

Bodily measurementss

Data on following bodily measurements were obtained by a trained nurse

Height, weight, BMI and other anthropometric variables (i.e. circumferences of waist, hip, head, neck, upper arm, etc.)

Systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP)

Ankle brachial pressure index (ABI)