Abstract
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.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | Online |
Journal | Parkinson's Disease |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | NA |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- FRONTAL ASSESSMENT BATTERY
- MINI-MENTAL-STATE
- FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA
- INCIDENT DEMENTIA
- CLINICAL-TRIAL
- NORMATIVE DATA
- RATING-SCALE
- RISK-FACTORS
- IMPAIRMENT
- COHORT