ABSTRACT
This chapter is a comprehensive reference manual providing information on the Test for Severe Impairment (TSI), which is an objective, clinician-administered test designed for severely cognitively impaired patients with dementia. Development of the TSI arose in response to the paucity of suitable measures to examine people with advanced dementia. The TSI was one of the first cognitive screening tests to deal with the problem of floor effects occurring for this clinical group by developing item content that was appropriate and suitable while still retaining a breadth of coverage of cognitive domains. A brief history of the instrument's development is provided, along with a description of item content and administration/scoring procedures. Psychometric properties are reviewed and a critical commentary is provided. Key references are cited and in most cases the actual scale is included, giving the reader easy access to the instrument.
