Validation of the Japanese version of the Social Functioning in Dementia scale and COVID-19 pandemic's impact on social function in mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to psychometrically evaluate and validate a Japanese version of the Social Functioning in Dementia scale (SF-DEM-J) and investigate changes in social function in people with dementia during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic.

DESIGN

We interviewed people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia and their caregivers during June 2020-March 2021 to validate patient- and caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J and compared their scores at baseline (April 2020 to May 2020) and at 6-8 months (January 2021 to March 2021) during a time of tighter COVID-19 restrictions.

SETTING

The neuropsychology clinic in the Department of Psychiatry at Osaka University Hospital and outpatient clinic in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Daini Osaka Police Hospital, Japan.

PARTICIPANTS

103 dyads of patients and caregivers.

MEASUREMENTS: SF-DEM-J, Mini-Mental State Examination, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Apathy Evaluation Scale.

RESULTS

The scale's interrater reliability was excellent and test-retest reliability was substantial. Content validity was confirmed for the caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J, and convergent validity was moderate. Caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J was associated with apathy, irritability, loneliness, and cognitive impairment. The total score of caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J and the score of Section 2, "communication with others," significantly improved at 6-8 months of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

The SF-DEM-J is acceptable as a measure of social function in MCI and mild dementia. Our results show that the social functioning of people with dementia, especially communicating with others, improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, probably as a result of adaptation to the restrictive life.