clinical_dementia_rating: Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale

In cliot: Clinical Indices and Outcomes Tools

Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale

Description

Calculates the Global CDR Score and the CDR Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB). The CDR is a global rating scale for staging dementia severity based on six domains of cognitive and functional performance: Memory, Orientation, Judgment & Problem Solving, Community Affairs, Home & Hobbies, and Personal Care.

Usage

clinical_dementia_rating(memory, orientation, judgment, community,
                         home_hobbies, personal_care)

Arguments

memory	Numeric (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3). Assessment of memory impairment. This is the primary category that drives the algorithm.
orientation	Numeric (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3). Assessment of orientation to time, place, and person.
judgment	Numeric (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3). Assessment of judgment and problem-solving abilities.
community	Numeric (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3). Assessment of involvement in community affairs.
home_hobbies	Numeric (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3). Assessment of ability to perform home chores and hobbies.
personal_care	Numeric (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3). Assessment of personal care status.

Details

Scoring Values: 0 = None 0.5 = Questionable/Very Mild 1 = Mild 2 = Moderate 3 = Severe

The Global CDR is calculated using the standard Washington University algorithm, where Memory (M) determines the baseline, and the configuration of secondary scores determines if the global score shifts up or down. The CDR-SB is the simple sum of all 6 scores.

Value

A list containing:

Global_CDR_Score	The staging score (0, 0.5, 1, 2, or 3).
CDR_Sum_of_Boxes	The sum of all domain scores (Range 0-18). Useful for tracking detailed progression.
Stage	Text description of the dementia severity.

References

Morris JC. The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): current version and scoring rules. Neurology. 1993;43(11):2412-2414. doi:10.1212/wnl.43.11.2412-a

Examples

# Example 1: Mild Dementia
# Memory 1, others mostly 1
clinical_dementia_rating(1, 1, 1, 0.5, 1, 0.5)

# Example 2: Questionable Dementia (CDR 0.5)
# Memory 0.5, others 0.5
clinical_dementia_rating(0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5)

# Example 3: Normal
# All 0
clinical_dementia_rating(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)

cliot documentation built on Dec. 1, 2025, 1:06 a.m.