Author(s):
Bugalho, Paulo ; Baptista, Miguel Viana
Date: 2013
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/23560
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Subject(s): RISK-FACTORS; COHORT; FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA; IMPAIRMENT; INCIDENT DEMENTIA; NORMATIVE DATA; CLINICAL-TRIAL; FRONTAL ASSESSMENT BATTERY; RATING-SCALE; MINI-MENTAL-STATE; FRONTAL ASSESSMENT BATTERY; MINI-MENTAL-STATE; FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA; INCIDENT DEMENTIA; CLINICAL-TRIAL; NORMATIVE DATA; RATING-SCALE; RISK-FACTORS; IMPAIRMENT; COHORT
Description
Our objectives were to perform a longitudinal assessment of mental status in early stage Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, with brief neuropsychological tests, in order to find predictive factors for cognitive decline. Sixty-one, early stage, and nondemented patients were assessed twice, over a 2-year interval, with a global cognitive test (mini-mental state examination (MMSE)) and a frontal function test (frontal assessment battery (FAB)) and motor function scales. Dementia and hallucinations were diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria. Cognitive function scores did not decrease significantly, except for FAB lexical fluency score. Four patients presented with dementia at followup. The MMSE score below cut-off, worse gait dysfunction, the nontremor motor subtype, and hallucinations were significantly related to dementia. Rigidity and speech dysfunction were related to dementia and a decrease in FAB scores. We can conclude that decline in the MMSE and FAB scores is small and heterogeneous in the early stages of PD. Scores below cut-off in the MMSE could be helpful to predict dementia. Nontremor motor deficits could be predictive factors for frontal cognitive decline and dementia.
