Korean Standardization of General Medical Health Rating on Dementia Patients.
- Author:
Seong Su JEONG
1
;
Yong Jae SHIN
;
Jung Ae AHN
;
Kyoung Hee YEO
;
Suk Chul SHIN
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medecine, Chungnam University College of Medecine, Taejeon, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Dementia;
Comorbidity;
General Medical Health Rating(GMHR);
Reliability
- MeSH:
Comorbidity;
Dementia*;
Humans;
Nursing Homes
- From:Journal of Korean Geriatric Psychiatry
2000;4(2):164-172
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Concurrent medical problem is common in dementia patients and critical to their care. Despite its importance, there was no bedside global rating scale for the seriousness of medical comorbidity. Lykestos et al. newly developed a reliable bedside scale, the General Medical Health Rating(GMHR). The objective of this study was to standardize the GMHR in form of Korean version(KGMHR). The study population consisted of 35 dementia patients in nursing home. Rating was performed by 1 physician and 2 nurses. Forty percent(14/35) of patients had one or more unstable medical illnesses. KGMHR ratings no more than 3 were 71.5%(25/35) of patients. The value of interrater reliability coefficient alpha was 0.9121. Correlations between KGMHR ratings and number of unstable medi-cal illnesses were high(r=-0.487, p<0.01). KGMHR ratings were also correlated with number of medications being taken for comorbid conditions(r=-0.542, p<0.01). In conclusion, KGMHR is a very reliable and simple rating scale for medical comorbidity in dementia patients. So the KGMHR could be a useful tool for evaluation of comorbidity in dementia patients. To verify the prognostic value of KGMHR, further large sized long-term study are needed.
