NEUROPSI battery subtest profile in subcortical vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease

PERFIL DO DESEMPENHO DE PACIENTES COM DEMÊNCIA VASCULAR SUBCORTICAL E DOENÇA DE ALZHEIMER EM SUBTESTES DA BATERIA NEUROPSI

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To investigate the diagnostic value of subtests of the NEUROPSI battery for differentiating subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD) from Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods:

Thirteen patients with mild SVaD, 15 patients with mild probable AD, and 30 healthy controls, matched for age, education and dementia severity (in the case of patients), were submitted to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and NEUROPSI battery. The performance of AD and SVaD groups on NEUROPSI subtests was compared. The statistical analyses were performed using Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. The results were interpreted at the 5% significance level (p<0.05). Bonferroni's correction was applied to multiple comparisons (a=0.02).

Results:

SVaD and AD patients showed no statistical difference in MMSE scores (SVaD=20.8 and AD=21.0; p=1.0) or in NEUROPSI total score (SVaD=65.0 and AD=64.3; p=0.56), suggesting a similar severity of dementia. The AD group performed worse on memory recall (<0.01) and SVaD group was worse in verbal fluency subtests (p=0.02).

Conclusion:

NEUROPSI's memory and language subtests can be an auxiliary tool for differentiating SVaD from AD.

Key words:
NEUROPSI; vascular dementia; Alzheimer's disease; memory recall; verbal fluency; neuropsychological tests

RESUMO

Objetivo:

Investigar o valor diagnóstico dos substes da bateria NEUROPSI em diferenciar demência vascular subcortical (DVs) de doença de Alzheimer (DA).

Métodos:

Treze pacientes com demência vascular subcortical leve, 15 pacientes com diagnóstico de DA provável leve e 30 indivíduos controles saudáveis, pareados em relação à idade, escolaridade e gravidade da demência, foram submetidos ao Mini-Exame de Estado Mental (MEEM) e a bateria NEUROPSI. O desempenho dos grupos DA e DVs nos subtestes do NEUROPSI foi comparado. As análises estatísticas foram feitas através dos testes de Kruskal-Wallis, qui-quadrado e Mann-Whitney, os reultados foram interpretados com 5% do nível de significância (p<0,05). A correção de Bonferroni foi aplicada para múltiplas comparações (a=0,02).

Resultados:

Pacientes dos grupos DVs e DA não mostraram diferenças estatísticas no desempenho do MEEM (DVs=20,8 e DA=21,0; p=1,0) e na pontuação total do NEUROPSI (DVs=65,0 e DA=64,3; p=0,56), sugerindo similar gravidade da demência. O grupo DA apresentou pior desempenho em evocação da memória (<0,01) e o grupo DVs foi pior nos subtestes de fluência verbal (p=0,02).

Conclusão:

Os subtestes de memória e de linguagem do NEUROPSI podem ser uma ferramenta auxiliar na diferenciação entre DVs e DA.

Palavras-chave:
NEUROPSI; demência vascular; doença de Alzheimer; memória de evocação; fluência verbal; testes neuropscológicos

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Jul-Sep 2012

History

• Received
  23 May 2012
• Accepted
  12 Aug 2012