Neuropsychological markers of progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.
To find early clinical markers that may predict a likely progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD), the authors performed neuropsychological tests on 82 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects. After 3 years, 38 patients developed AD while 44 retained the diagnosis of MCI. The cognitive differences between the groups were studied. Patients who developed AD showed significantly lower values than did MCI subjects in some neuropsychological scores (P = .02-.001), with sensitivities and specificities higher than 84% and 64%, respectively, for detecting early-onset AD, with a 7.9-fold increased risk of converting to AD (P < .001). Regarding the logistic regression model, the CAMCOG Memory and Perception cognitive screening items were the optimum independent tools to classify the patients who will progress to AD, showing a relative risk of progression of 10.5 (P = .002), 5.5 (P = .008), and 3.9 times (P = .05), respectively, with a sensibility of of 92.1% and a specificity 72.7%.
Marcos
Alberto
A
Neurology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. a_marcos_d@yahoo.es
Gil
Pedro
P
Barabash
Ana
A
Rodriguez
Raquel
R
Encinas
Marta
M
Fernández
Cristina
C
Cabranes
José Antonio
JA
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity