Home › Research › Caregiving
The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia
Cummings JL, Mega M, Gray K, Rosenberg-Thompson S, Carusi DA, Gornbein J.. Neurology, 1994-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
We developed a new instrument, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), to assess 10 behavioral disturbances occurring in dementia patients: delusions, hallucinations, dysphoria, anxiety, agitation/aggression, euphoria, disinhibition, irritability/lability, apathy, and aberrant motor activity. The NPI uses a screening strategy to minimize administration time, examining and scoring only those behavioral domains with positive responses to screening questions. Both the frequency and the severity of each behavior are determined. Information for the NPI is obtained from a caregiver familiar with the patient's behavior. Studies reported here demonstrate the content and concurrent validity as well as between-rater, test-retest, and internal consistency reliability; the instrument is both valid and reliable. The NPI has the advantages of evaluating a wider range of psychopathology than existing instruments, soliciting information that may distinguish among different etiologies of dementia, differentiating between severity and frequency of behavioral changes, and minimizing administration time.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Cummings, J. L., Mega, M., Gray, K., Rosenberg-Thompson, S., Carusi, D. A., & Gornbein, J. (1994). The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.44.12.2308
Vancouver
Cummings JL, Mega M, Gray K, Rosenberg-Thompson S, Carusi DA, Gornbein J. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia. Neurology. 1994. doi:10.1212/wnl.44.12.2308. PMID: 7991117.
BibTeX
@article{cummings1994-7991117,
author = {Cummings, J. L. and Mega, M. and Gray, K. and Rosenberg-Thompson, S. and Carusi, D. A. and Gornbein, J.},
title = {{The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {1994},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.44.12.2308},
pmid = {7991117},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.44.12.2308}
}
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.
Key findings
- The NPI uses a screening strategy to minimize administration time, examining and scoring only those behavioral domains with positive responses to screening questions.
- Both the frequency and the severity of each behavior are determined.
- Information for the NPI is obtained from a caregiver familiar with the patient's behavior.
- Studies reported here demonstrate the content and concurrent validity as well as between-rater, test-retest, and internal consistency reliability; the instrument is both valid and reliable.
- The NPI has the advantages of evaluating a wider range of psychopathology than existing instruments, soliciting information that may distinguish among different etiologies of dementia, differentiating between severity and frequency of behavioral changes, and minimizing administration time.
Why it matters
The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) is a questionnaire, answered by "a caregiver familiar with the patient's behavior", that rates how often and how severely a person with dementia shows 10 behaviours, including delusions, hallucinations, agitation/aggression, depression (dysphoria), anxiety and apathy. Screening questions skip the behaviours that are not present, to keep it short. The authors report it was valid and reliable, though this record gives no figures, and it is a way of measuring symptoms, not a treatment.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Caregiving →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.
| 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 | 1994 — 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 7,578 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 222.9 citations a year over 34 year(s) since 1994 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 6 / 6 | Cited by 356 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 841 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author JEFFREY A. GORNBEIN: h-index 63 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, Los Angeles: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 7991117) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 58 / 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.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Later studies that cite this one
356 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Caregiving
Also tagged “prevalence”
1,223 studies in the library carry the topic tag “prevalence”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,223 tagged studies.