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The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) as a screening tool for dementia for a predominantly illiterate Chinese population
Fuh JL, Teng EL, Lin KN, Larson EB, Wang SJ, Liu CY, Chou P, Kuo BI et al.. Neurology, 1995-01-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) provides ratings of an individual's changes in everyday cognitive functions during the previous 10 years. Original studies conducted in Australia showed that its score was not influenced by the subjects' educational backgrounds and that it performed at least as well as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) as a screening instrument for dementia. The subjects of the present study were Chinese and included 399 community residents and 61 dementia patients.
Key findings
- Original studies conducted in Australia showed that its score was not influenced by the subjects' educational backgrounds and that it performed at least as well as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) as a screening instrument for dementia.
- The subjects of the present study were Chinese and included 399 community residents and 61 dementia patients.
- Their ages ranged from 50 to 92 years; their education levels ranged from 0 to 19 years, and 63% of them had never attended school.
- We administered the IQCODE to informants and the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), from which a CASI-estimated score of the MMSE (MMSE-CE) can be obtained, to the subjects.
Why it matters
This study tested the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly as a dementia screening tool in a predominantly illiterate Chinese population. It is about finding a screening method that is not affected by education, not about treatment, cure or prevention.
Study details
- Participants399
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 46 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (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 | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1995 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 399 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 162 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.9 citations a year over 33 year(s) since 1995 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 7 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 10 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Hantao Liu holds only 3 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Taipei Veterans General Hospital: institution h-index 422 (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 7824143) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 44 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 46 out of 100. |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
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. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Fuh, J. L., Teng, E. L., Lin, K. N., Larson, E. B., Wang, S. J., Liu, C. Y., et al. (1995). The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) as a screening tool for dementia for a predominantly illiterate Chinese population. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.45.1.92
Vancouver
Fuh JL, Teng EL, Lin KN, Larson EB, Wang SJ, Liu CY, et al. The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) as a screening tool for dementia for a predominantly illiterate Chinese population. Neurology. 1995. doi:10.1212/wnl.45.1.92. PMID: 7824143.
BibTeX
@article{fuh1995-7824143,
author = {Fuh, J. L. and Teng, E. L. and Lin, K. N. and Larson, E. B. and Wang, S. J. and Liu, C. Y. and Chou, P. and Kuo, B. I. and others},
title = {{The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) as a screening tool for dementia for a predominantly illiterate Chinese population}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {1995},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.45.1.92},
pmid = {7824143},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.45.1.92}
}
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