Significance of neuropsychological single-item scales in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To identify the significance of neuropsychological single-item scales in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD).Methods A total of 676 elderly people living around Dongzhimen district in Beijing were recruited using multistage sampling method.Cognitive function was assessed by minimum mental state examination (MMSE)and other scales.MCI was diagnosed based on the criteria proposed by Petersen (1999),and AD was diagnosed based on the NINCDS-ADRDA.Subjects were divided into normal cognitive group (n=213 cases,31.5％),Alzheimer's disease (AD) group (n=167 cases,24.7％),amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) group (n=186 cases,27.5 ％) and non-AD dementia group (110 cases,16.3 ％).Results The MMSE scores in AD,aMCI and normal groups were 23.0 ± 5.9,25.9±2.6,8.1 ± 1.7,respectively.There were significant differences in MMSE scores between AD,aMCI and NC groups separately (all P＜0.01).Compared with MCI and NC group,th scores of time orientation,attention,calculation and immediate recall and delayed recall were significantly decreased in AD group (all P＜0.01).Comparing with normal group,the scores of attention and calculation were reduced in aMCI group (both P＜0.01).The delayed story recall (DSR) scores in AD,aMCI and NC groups were 15.7 ± 11.7,7.6 ± 4.9,26.5 ± 9.3,respectively.There were significant differences in mean DSR scores between AD,aMCI and NC groups separately (all P＜0.01).Compared with normal group,the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scores were higher and the mean clock drawing task (CDT)scores were lower in AD and aMCI groups (both P＜0.01).Conclusions Both neuropsychological assessment tools such as MMSE and single-item scales such as delayed story recall have the certain significance in the diagnosis of MCI and AD.