Screening for dementia in Down syndrome using the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE)

Down syndrome (DS) is genetically associated with Alzheimer´s disease (AD), and the neuropathological features of AD can be found in DS brains since early adulthood. Screening tests are required for the clinical assessment of dementia; however, the presence of intellectual disability at various degrees precludes the use of most of the available cognitive screening tests in this population, and few instruments have so far been validated for this purpose. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the IQCODE for the screening for cognitive/functional decline and dementia in DS.