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SF-DEM is a patient- and carer-reported outcome measure designed for the assessment of the social functioning of people with dementia.
Scale development and validation
We developed the Social Functioning in Dementia Scale (SF-DEM) at University College London together with researchers at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and clinicians at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
The SF-DEM is designed to assess social functioning in people with mild dementia in order to identify changes related to dementia. It is the only available measure specifically designed to assess the engagement with social networks and participation in social activities of a person with dementia, and was recommended in a review of instruments to assess social functioning in dementia.
SF-DEM consists of two questionnaires.
- SF-DEM - Person with dementia: a 20 item interviewer-administered questionnaire answered by a person with dementia
- SF-DEM - Carer: a 20 item interviewer-administered questionnaire answered by a family carer of a person with dementia
The social functioning in dementia scale was developed and validated using key psychometric principles in a population of older people living in Camden and Islington, London (Sommerlad et al 2017). We undertook a further validation study and established the factor structure in a multi-centre study based in London and Sussex (Budgett et al 2019) and have established the minimum clinically important difference for the scale (Levene et al 2022).
Researchers in Germany (Grothe et al 2022) and Japan (Umeda et al 2024) have translated and validated the SF-DEM. Collaborators in Denmark, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Hong Kong are currently translating and validating the scale for their local settings.
SF-DEM Files for download
SF-DEM is freely available for use by other researchers under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
German SF-DEM
The German SF-DEM (Sozialfunktionen bei Demenz - Fragebogen) was developed and validated by Susanne Röhr, Jessica Grothe, Melanie Luppa, and Steffi G. Riedel-Heller from the ISAP at University of Leipzig (https://www.uniklinikum-leipzig.de/einrichtungen/isap).
Contact information: Prof. Steffi G. Riedel-Heller, MPH; Phone: +49 (0)341/9715408; e-mail: Steffi.Riedel-Heller@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
Japanese SF-DEM
The Japanese SF-DEM (認知症患者の社会機能評価尺度) was developed and validated by Hideki Kanemoto, Sumiyo Umeda, Maki Suzuki, and Manabu Ikeda from Osaka University.
Contact information: Dr Hideki Kanemoto; e-mail: hkanemoto@psy.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Hong Kong (Cantonese) SF-DEM
The Hong Kong (Cantonese) SF-DEM (HK SF-DEM) was developed by Dr Kenny Chui from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Contact information: Dr Kenny Chui; e-mail: kenny.chui@jccpa.org.hk
Danish SF-DEM
The Danish SF-DEM (DK-SF-DEM) was translated and culturally adapted by Dr Sif Blandfort and Dr Stina Bjornskov from VIA University College, Aarhus.
(https://www.ucviden.dk/da/organisations/program-for-demens/projects/)
Contact information: Dr Sif Blandfort; Phone: +45 87552987; e-mail: sibl@via.dk
Taiwanese SF-DEM
The Taiwanese SF-DEM (台灣版失智症社交功能量表) was developed and validated by Dr Ruan-Ching Yu and Dr Cheng-Chang Yang at Shuang Ho Hospital (SHH), Taipei Medical University (TMU), Taiwan.
Contact information: Dr Ruan-Ching Yu (e-mail: ruan-ching.yu.18@ucl.ac.uk); Dr Cheng-Chang Yang (e-mail: 19589@s.tmu.edu.tw)
Validation studies
English SF-DEM
- Sommerlad, A., Singleton, D., Jones, R., Banerjee, S., Livingston, G. Development of an instrument to assess social functioning in dementia: The Social Functioning in Dementia scale (SF-DEM). Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. 2017: 7;88-98 doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2017.02.001
Budgett J, Brown A, Daley S, Page T, Banerjee S, Livingston G, Sommerlad A. The social functioning in dementia scale (SF-DEM): Exploratory factor analysis and psychometric properties in mild, moderate and severe dementia. Alzheimer’s and Dementia Diagnosis, Assessment and Disease Monitoring 2019. 11:45-52 doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2018.11.001
Levene T, Livingston G, Banerjee S, Sommerlad A. The minimum clinically-important difference of the Social Functioning in Dementia Scale (SF-DEM): cross-sectional study and Delphi study. BMJ Open 2022;12:e058252
German SF-DEM
Grothe J, Luppa M, Dietzel J, Schomerus G, Sommerlad A, Riedel-Heller SG, Röhr S. Psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Social Functioning in Dementia scale. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 2022. 86(3):1231-41 doi: 10.3233/JAD-215557
Japanese SF-DEM
Umeda S, Kanemoto H, Suzuki M, Wada T et. al. Validation of the Japanese version of the Social Functioning in Dementia scae and COVID-19 pandemic's impact on social function in mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia. International Psychogeriatrics 2024. 1-14 doi: 10.1017/S1041610224000401