Does Your Loved One With Cognitive Symptoms Need to See a Doctor? Check It Online

Widespread access to emerging information and communication technologies (ICT)allows its use for the screening of diseases in the general population. At the initiativeof the Spanish Confederation of Associations of Families of People with Alzheimer'sdisease and other dementias (CEAFA), a website (http://www.problemasmemoria.com)has been created that provides information about Alzheimer's disease and includesquestionnaires to be completed by family or friends concerned about memory problemsof a relative. A cross-sectional, randomized, multicenter study was performed toevaluate feasibility, validity, and user satisfaction with an electronic method of completionvs. the current method of paper-based questionnaires for clinically dementia screeningcompleted by the informants: the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in theElderly (IQCODE) and the Alzheimer's disease-8 screening test (AD8). A total of 111pairs were recruited by seven memory clinics. Informants completed IQCODE and AD8questionnaires both in their paper and electronic versions. The correlation betweenpaper and electronic versions was significantly positive for IQCODE (r= 0.98;p < 0.001)and AD8 (r= 0.96;p < 0.001). The execution time did not differ significantly, andparticipants considered their use equally easy. This study shows that an electronicversion of the IQCODE and AD8 questionnaires is suitable for its online use via theinternet and achieves the same results as the traditional paper versions.