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Clinical Dementia Rating: A Reliable and Valid Diagnostic and Staging Measure for Dementia of the Alzheimer Type
John C. Morris. International Psychogeriatrics, 1997-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Global staging measures for dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) assess the influence of cognitive loss on the ability to conduct everyday activities and represent the "ultimate test" of efficacy for antidementia drug trials. They provide information about clinically meaningful function and behavior and are less affected by the "floor" and "ceiling" effects commonly associated with psychometric tests. The Washington University Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) is a global scale developed to clinically denote the presence of DAT and stage its severity. The clinical protocol incorporates semistructured interviews with the patient and informant to obtain information necessary to rate the subject's cognitive performance in six domains: memory, orientation, judgment and problem solving, community affairs, home and hobbies, and personal care. The CDR has been standardized for multicenter use, including the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) and the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, and interrater reliability has been established. Criterion validity for both the global CDR and scores on individual domains has been demonstrated, and the CDR also has been validated neuropathologically, particularly for the presence or absence of dementia. Standardized training protocols are available. Although not well suited as a brief screening tool for population surveys of dementia because the protocol depends on sufficient time to conduct interviews, the CDR has become widely accepted in the clinical setting as a reliable and valid global assessment measure for DAT.
Why it matters
Describes the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), a scale that uses interviews with the patient and an informant to rate six areas, such as memory and personal care, and stage dementia of the Alzheimer type. The authors report established reliability and validity, but note it is not well suited as a brief screening tool for population surveys. The scale measures dementia; it does not treat it.
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on strength of evidence, so that was left out: it earned 48 of the 95 points we could judge it on, which is 51 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (International Psychogeriatrics) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | International Psychogeriatrics: journal h-index 161 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | — / 5 | No evidence rating recorded — left out of this score |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1997 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,641 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 52.9 citations a year over 31 year(s) since 1997 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 385 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author John C. Morris: h-index 209 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 9447441) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 48 / 95 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 48 of the 95 points we could judge it on is 51 out of 100. |
| Total | 51 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1017/s1041610297004870
- PubMed: 9447441
- Original source →
- Free full text: International Psychogeriatrics →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Morris, J. C. (1997). Clinical Dementia Rating: A Reliable and Valid Diagnostic and Staging Measure for Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. International Psychogeriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610297004870
Vancouver
Morris JC. Clinical Dementia Rating: A Reliable and Valid Diagnostic and Staging Measure for Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. International Psychogeriatrics. 1997. doi:10.1017/s1041610297004870. PMID: 9447441.
BibTeX
@article{morris1997-9447441,
author = {Morris, John C.},
title = {{Clinical Dementia Rating: A Reliable and Valid Diagnostic and Staging Measure for Dementia of the Alzheimer Type}},
journal = {International Psychogeriatrics},
year = {1997},
doi = {10.1017/s1041610297004870},
pmid = {9447441},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610297004870}
}
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