Assessing response to tacrine using the factor analytic structure of the Alzheimer's disease assessment scale (Adas)—cognitive subscale

✍ Scribed by Dr. Jason T. Olin; Lon S. Schneider

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 344 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.930100905

✦ Synopsis

A factor analysis of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADASc), the primary cognitive outcome measure in most clinical trials of drugs for Alzheimer's disease, was undertaken to test whether factor scores are differentially sensitive to change in a placebo-controlled 30-week trial of the cholinesterase inhibitor tacrine. The factor analysis identified three factors: language, memory and praxis, a factor structure similar to an earlier report. All three factors showed worsening for placebo patients and improvements for tacrine patients, with significant between-group treatment effects. None of the factors was significantly more sensitive to change than another, suggesting that tacrine affects a range of cognitive function.