Disability assessment scale for dementia – long version (DADL-BR)

Introduction: There are no functional assessment tools for elderly with dementia available in the literature that will assess all occupations. Objective: To develop a Long Version of Disability Assessment for Dementia Scale (DADL-Br), covering all occupations provided by the American Association of Occupational Therapy (AOTA) and the activities that compose them and evaluate its content validity. Method: With the permission of the original version main author (DAD), Isabelle Gélinas PhD, the new items of the Long Version (DADL-Br) were developed based on the classification proposed by AOTA for occupations, considering the gaps in the original instrument. We reviewed the Cultural and Conceptual Equivalence by the Expert Committee and Multidisciplinary Committee. The suggestions of the Committees were accepted and the process followed for the pre-test and author analysis. Results: The first version of the instrument received 10 new fields and 64 new items, which after seven reviews of Cultural Equivalence (average concordance 89.2%), six reviews of Conceptual Equivalence (average concordance 81.2%), tree pre-tests and analysis of the original version main author, has resulted in the development of five versions, addition of twelve items and exclusion of seven items, and the final version consists of 20 fields and 109 items, being 10 new fields and 69 new items. Conclusion: This process conferred the content validity of DADL-Br, which includes all occupations proposed by AOTA and can be a useful tool to evaluate the profile of occupational performance of elderly with dementia