Association between cognition and daily life functioning in dementia subtypes.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between cognition and daily life functioning in dementia subtypes.


METHODS
Cross-sectional data were used from 615 patients with dementia who were referred to the Maastricht Memory Clinic of the Maastricht University Medical Centre. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; to measure cognitive status) and the Blessed Dementia Scale (BDS; to measure daily life functioning) for the following types of dementia: Alzheimer's Disease (AD, n = 442); Vascular dementia (VaD, n = 113); frontotemporal dementia (FTD, n = 18); Parkinson's dementia (PD, n = 21); and primary progressive aphasia (PPA, n = 21). One-way ANOVA was used to test differences in age, MMSE scores and BDS scores across dementia subtypes.


RESULTS
Scores on the MMSE showed strong correlation with BDS scores in cases of FTD (r = -0.80); moderate correlation in cases of AD, VaD, and PD (range r = -0.50-0.60); while no correlation was found in PPA cases.


CONCLUSIONS
The association between cognition and daily life functioning varied among dementia subtypes for AD, VaD, FTD and PD. Furthermore, the overall scores on both domains differ between dementia subtypes, indicating that different types of dementia are characterized by a specific pattern of cognitive status and daily life functioning. These findings underline the need for multidomain assessment in patients with dementia.
Bouwens
Sharon F M
SF
School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
van Heugten
Caroline M
CM
Verhey
Frans R J
FR
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests