Validation study of the Chinese version of the neuropsychiatric inventory (CNPI)

BACKGROUND: More validated instruments for assessment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are required to facilitate local dementia research. METHOD: The psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the neuropsychiatric inventory (CNPI) were tested in a sample of 62 dementia outpatients. The concurrent validity was tested by measuring the Spearman correlation between CNPI subscales with the appropriate subscales of BEHAVE-AD and the Chinese Hamilton rating scale of depression (CHDS). The internal consistency reliability, false-negative rates of the screening questions of CNPI and inter-rater reliability were determined. RESULT: Most CNPI behavioral domains achieved significant correlation with the corresponding BEHAVE-AD and CHDS subscales. Cronbach alpha for the overall reliability was 0.84. The false-negative rates of the screening question were acceptable except for the dysphoria, sleep and appetite domains. The inter-rater reliability was satisfactory with intraclass correlation coefficient of all subscales above 0.9. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated the applicability of the CNPI in assessing the neuropsychiatric manifestations of dementia in the Chinese community.