Evaluation of 100 Patients with Dementia in São Paulo, Brazil

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Memory loss is a major complaint among the elderly population. However, the clinical significance of this symptom is variable and also controversial in the scientific literature.ObjectiveTo compare the cognitive performance of two groups of healthy elderly, one group with and the other without, subjective memory complaints (SMC).MethodsSixty cognitively intact elderly individuals (39 females and 21 males), aged 69.9±6.3 years and with educational level of 8.5±5.5 years, were included in the study. Participants were submitted to the Mini-Mental State Examination and to the Cornell depression scale in order to rule out global cognitive impairment and depression, respectively. Moreover, they answered the MAC-Q, a questionnaire devised to evaluate subjective impression of memory function. Subsequently, they were submitted to the digit span forward and backward, the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, and to the Frontal Assessment Battery.ResultsTwenty-seven individuals had MAC-Q scores <25 and thus were classified as not having SMC, while 33 had MAC-Q scores ≥25 and were considered to have SMC. No differences for age, gender, education and MMSE scores were found between the two groups. The comparison between the performance of the groups of complainers and non-complainers on the different cognitive tests yielded no significant difference, although there was a trend toward non-complainers performing better on incidental memory.ConclusionsThe presence of SMC was not associated to objective memory impairment or to other cognitive deficits in this group of elderly individuals.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective memory complaints and cognitive performance in a sample of healthy elderly

Caramelli

Beato

2008

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“…All participants were submitted to the Mini-Mental State-Examination (MMSE), to the Cornell scale of depression and to the FAB, in which scores were determined for each item and for the total scale. Performance in the MMSE adjusted to the educational level, had to be greater than or equal to 21 for 1-3 years of schooling, greater than or equal to 24 for 4-7 years and greater than or equal to 26 for individuals with 8 or more years of schooling 8 . Score on the Cornell scale of depression had to be less than or equal to 7 points in order to rule out depression 9 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brazilian version of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB): Preliminary data on administration to healthy elderly

Beato

Nitrini

Formigoni

et al. 2007

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The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) has been proposed as a diagnostic tool for patients with frontal lobe syndrome.ObjectivesTo present the Brazilian version of the FAB and to show preliminary data on the performance of healthy elderly in the battery, correlating with age, education and scores in the Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE).MethodsForty-eight healthy elderly individuals (34 female/14 male) were evaluated, aged 69.3±6.1 years and with educational level=8.0±5.6 years. The subjects were submitted to the MMSE, the Cornell depression scale and the FAB, in which scores were determined for each item and for the total scale. All individuals had to attain above education adjusted cut-off scores in the MMSE and =7 points on the Cornell depression scale. Correlations were calculated between FAB total scores and age, educational level and MMSE scores, as well as between FAB items and education.ResultsThe mean score ±SD in the FAB was 13.0±2.3(7 to 18). Total FAB scores correlated significantly with education (r=0.37; p=0.01) and MMSE scores (r=0.46; p=0.001). No correlation emerged between FAB scores and age. The mean score ±SD of the MMSE was 27.4 ± 1.8. Considering the six FAB items separately, two of them (similarities and conflicting instructions) correlated significantly with educational.ConclusionsIn this group of healthy elderly, the Brazilian version of the FAB proved to be influenced by education, but not age.

“…Dementia is a syndrome characterized by the presence of cognitive decline that interferes in social or professional activities of individuals, representing a decline from previous levels. 1 In Brazil, the prevalence of dementia is 7.1%, being higher in women and in elderly with lower educational level. The main cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease which is responsible for 55% of cases.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

S-TOFHLA in mild Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment patients as a measure of functional literacy: Preliminary study

Oliveira

Porto

Brucki

2009

The greatest difficulty in diagnosing cognitive loss in our population is the diversity of its education which has a broad spectrum ranging from illiteracy, functional illiteracy and different degrees of literacy, even in those with the same level of schooling.ObjectivesTo verify whether there is impairment on the S-TOFHLA among individuals with AD and MCI compared with healthy controls, and to compare performance on the S-TOFHLA performance with neuropsychological tests and the scores achieved on the Raven’s Colored Matrices and Vocabulary and Block Design (WAIS-III) as a measure of estimated intellectual level.Methods59 subjects: controls (n=23; age 70.96±8.31y; schooling 10.2±5.87y; 6 men), MCI patients (n=11; age 74.18±8.12y; schooling 7.55±4.32y; 5 men) and AD patients (n=25; age 76.16±4.96y; schooling 7.32±4.78y; 10 men) were submitted to neuropsychological assessment, S-TOFHLA and functional evaluation.ResultsDifferences on BD, Raven and Estimated IQ were found between controls and MCI patients as well as controls and AD patients. On the S-TOFHLA, differences were found between MCI and AD patients, controls and AD patients, but not between control and MCI groups. S-TOFHLA performance correlated strongly with schooling and all neuropsychological tests, except Clock Drawing.ConclusionsThe S-TOFHLA seems to be a useful measure for determining the level of literacy in MCI patients, but not in AD patients. S-TOFHLA performance was more closely associated with neuropsychological test scores than were years of education and seems to be a good predictor of level of literacy. The Vocabulary subtest proved to be uninfluenced by the disease process in early stages and preserved in both MCI and AD patients, showing that semantic memory and crystallized intelligence are preserved.