Clinical Dementia Rating

Clinical intent

The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) is a global rating device that was first introduced in a prospective study of patients with mild “senile dementia of AD type” (SDAT) in 1982 (Hughes et al., 1982).

CDR is estimated on the basis of a semistructured interview of the subject and the caregiver (informant) and on the clinical judgment of the clinician. CDR is calculated on the basis of testing six different cognitive and behavioral domains such as memory, orientation, judgment and problem solving, community affairs, home and hobbies performance, and personal care.

Clinical interpretation

The CDR is based on a scale of 0–3: no dementia (CDR = 0), questionable dementia (CDR = 0.5), MCI (CDR = 1), moderate cognitive impairment (CDR = 2), and severe cognitive impairment (CDR = 3).

References

[1] Hughes CP, Berg L, Danziger W, Coben LA, Martin RL. A New Clinical Scale for the Staging of Dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1982;140(6):566-572.

[2] Morris JC. The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): current version and scoring rules. Neurology. 1993;43(11):2412-4.