Vietnamese Version of Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia at an Outpatient Memory Clinic: A Reliability and Validity Study

BACKGROUND: In Vietnam, there has been, currently, no standardized tool for depression assessment for people with dementia (PWD). Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) is a widely studied and used scale for PWD worldwide. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to standardize the Vietnamese version of the CSDD (V-CSDD) in depression assessment in PWD through reliability and validity examination. METHODS: V-CSDD was rated in terms of reliability and validity with gold standard regarding “major depressive episode” and “major depressive-like episode” of DSM-5. Cronbach's α, ICC, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed. RESULTS: V-CSDD was found to have a high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.80), inter-rater reliability at sound ranking (ICC = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.81–0.94), maximum cut-off mark of 13 (sensitivity = 70%, specificity = 92%), and EFA, which suggested that V-CSDD may comprise 5 factors. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate the V-CSDD to be a reliable and valid assessment and to be beneficial in classifying and diagnosing depression in dementia outpatients in clinical contexts.