Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25031530›Full record

ReviewClinical interventions in aging2014

The merits and problems of Neuropsychiatric Inventory as an assessment tool in people with dementia and other neurological disorders.

Claudia K Y Lai

Registry-linked trialAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Clinical interventions in aging, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03224143 (Doll Therapy Efficacy for People With Dementia Living in Nursing Homes), which is not on this map. Cited by 69 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
69citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03224143 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2017, after this paper: background citation

Doll Therapy Efficacy for People With Dementia Living in Nursing Homes: a Randomized Single-blind Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern SwitzerlandRan2017 to 2020Enrolled128ConditionsDementiaArmsDoll Therapy Intervention, active control group (SI)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

69 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
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  5. Music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018
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  6. Music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
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9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Claudia K Y LaiSchool of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) is one of the most commonly used assessment scales for assessing symptoms in people with dementia and other neurological disorders. This paper analyzes its conceptual framework, measurement mode, psychometric properties, and merits and problems.

methodAll articles discussing the psychometric properties and factor structure of the NPI were searched for in Medline via Ovid. The abstracts of these papers were read to determine their relevance to the purpose of this paper. If deemed appropriate, a full paper was then obtained and read.

resultsThe NPI has reasonably good content validity and internal consistency, and good test-retest and interrater reliability. There is limited information about its sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and, in particular, responsiveness. Merits of the NPI include being comprehensive, avoiding symptom overlap, ease of use, and flexibility. It has problems in scoring (no multiples of 5, 7, and 11) and, therefore, analysis using parametric tests may not be appropriate. The use of individual subscales also warrants further investigation.

conclusionIn terms of its content and concurrent validity, intra- and interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency, the NPI can be considered as valid and reliable, and can be used across different ethnic groups. The tool is most likely unable to deliver as good a performance in terms of discriminating between different disorders. More studies are required to further evaluate its psychometric properties, particularly in the areas of factor structure and responsiveness. The clinical utility of the NPI also needs to be further explored.

Indexed as

Geriatric AssessmentAgedAlzheimer DiseaseDementiaHumansNeuropsychological TestsObserver VariationPsychometricsReproducibility of Resultsmeasurementneuropsychiatric symptomsoutcome assessment

Identifiers

PMID25031530
PMCPMC4099101

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.