CDR
Also written as: CDR — Clinical Dementia Rating
Clinical Dementia Rating scale used to stage dementia severity from normal aging to severe impairment.
Full Definition
The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) is a standardized assessment tool used to characterize and stage the severity of dementia symptoms. Developed by Hughes and colleagues, the CDR evaluates six cognitive and functional domains: memory, orientation, judgment and problem solving, community affairs, home and hobbies, and personal care. Each domain is rated on a scale from 0 (normal) to 3 (severe impairment), with the memory domain weighted most heavily in determining the global CDR score. The resulting global scores are: CDR 0 (normal), CDR 0.5 (very mild/questionable dementia), CDR 1 (mild dementia), CDR 2 (moderate dementia), and CDR 3 (severe dementia). This tool is widely used in clinical practice and research for staging dementia progression.
Usage
Usage note: Always specify global score and note that 0.5 represents questionable dementia, not half-normal.
In Context
- "The patient's CDR score progressed from 0.5 to 1.0 over the 18-month follow-up period." — Longitudinal assessment report
- "CDR staging guided family discussions about care planning and safety modifications." — Care coordination meeting notes