Objective: Although the diagnostic criteria of dementia have a cognitive bias, behavioural deficits are known to occur even in very early stages of the disease and seem to preceed cognitive decline. Nevertheless, the contribution of non-cognitive symptoms to disease progression as well as the occurrence and frequency of specific deficits in early stages still remain unclear. Consequently, both cognitive and non-cognitive domains have to be taken into account in early dementia diagnosis. Aims of the study To investigate the link between cognitive decline and behavioural disturbances in early dementia by using different psychometric screening instruments. Materials and Methods: We assessed a population of altogether 20 MCI-patients (“mnestic MCI”, according to Petersen’s criteria) with a variety of cognitive and non-cognitive tests. In the cognitive domain, cognition was assessed by two global cognitive screening tools, MMSE (Folstein et al., 1975) and DemTect (Calabrese, Kessler, 2000). Symptoms of apathy and anosognosia were assessed by the Marin Apathy Scale (Marin, 1990) and the Anosognosia Scale (Derouesné et al., 1999) respectively. Results:MCI-patients show both, cognitive impairment and behavioural disturbances. Specifically significant correlations could be detected between DEMTECT-scores and apathy as well as anosognosia whereas no correlation could be identified between MMSE and behavioural measures. Conclusion:In our cohort, early dementia is characterized by cognitive as well as behavioural symptoms. Thus, while diagnosis still relies on assessment of cognitive decline in particular, non-cognitive symptoms have to be taken into account and might even allow earlier diagnosis. Furthermore, the difference between highly interrelated DEMTECT scores with behavioural measures on one hand and a lack of correlation between MMST and behavioural measures testify that a further improvement regarding sensitivity and specificity in this area is still required.
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