French version of the Rating Scale for Aggressive Behaviour in the Elderly (F-RAGE): Psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy

• Main Author: Adama,Barry
• Publication Date: 2013
• Other Authors: Benjamin,Calvet, Jean-Pierre,Clément, Michel,Druet-Cabanac, Annie,Prado-Jean
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Dementia & Neuropsychologia
• Download full: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642013000300278
• topic: aggressive behaviour; psychogeriatric; RAGE; CMAI; NPI.

ABSTRACT Aggressive behaviour is the most disturbing and distressing behaviour displayed by elderly people. The prevalence of aggressive behaviour is around 50% among psychogeriatric patients. Objective: This study sought to analyze the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of the French version of the Rating Scale for Aggressive Behaviour in the Elderly (F-RAGE). Methods: The F-RAGE was administered to 79 patients hospitalized in a geriatric psychiatry department. A psychiatrist, who was blind to the subjects' RAGE scores, performed the diagnosis for aggressivity based on global clinical impression. The F-RAGE and MMSE were applied by a trained researcher blind to subjects' clinical diagnoses while the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory and Neuropsychiatric Inventory were administered by medical and nursing staff. Internal consistency, reliability, cut-off points, sensitivity and specificity for F-RAGE were estimated. Results: F-RAGE showed satisfactory validity and reliability measurements. Regarding reliability, Cronbach's a coefficient was satisfactory with a value of 0.758. For diagnostic accuracy, a cut-off point of 8 points (sensitivity=74.19%; specificity=97.98%) and area under curve of 0.960 were estimated to distinguish between aggressive patients and control subjects. Discussion: F-RAGE showed acceptable psychometric properties, supported by evidence of validity and reliability for its use in the diagnosis of aggressive behaviour in elderly.