Early impairment of cognitive functions in Parkinson's disease.
BACKGROUND
Impairment in non-motor functions such as disturbances of some executive functions are also common events in Parkinson's disease patients.


OBJECTIVE
To verify the performance of Parkinson's disease patients in activities requiring visuoconstructive and visuospatial skills.


METHODS
Thirty elderly patients with mild or moderate stages of Parkinson's disease were studied. The assessment of the clinical condition was based on the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (56.28; SD=33.48), Hoehn and Yahr (2.2; SD=0.83), Schwab and England (78.93%), clock drawing test (7.36; SD=2.51), and mini-mental state examination (26.48; SD=10.11). Pearson's correlation and stepwise multiple regression were used for statistical analyses.


RESULTS
The patients presented deterioration in visuospatial and visuoconstructive skills.


CONCLUSIONS
The clock drawing test proved to be a useful predictive tool for identifying early cognitive impairment in these individuals.
Neuropsychiatry and Mental Health for Elderly, State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil. fstella@rc.unesp.br
Florindo
F
Stella
Lilian T B
LT
Gobbi
Sebastião
S
Gobbi
Merlyn M
MM
Oliani
Kátia
K
Tanaka
Frederico
F
Pieruccini-Faria
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology