✦ LIBER ✦

Unequal distribution of cognitive deficits in vascular dementia – is this a valid criterion in the ICD-10?

✍ Scribed by Paul F. Boston; Michael S. Dennis; Carol Jagger; Maria Jarman; Carolien Lamers

Book ID: 102227332
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
Year: 2001
Tongue: English
Weight: 56 KB
Volume: 16
Category: Article
ISSN: 0885-6230
DOI: 10.1002/gps.357

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the appropriateness of the ICD‐10 criterion for vascular dementia which requires unequal distribution of deficits between different domains of cognitive function.

Design

Cross‐sectional comparative study.

Setting

Referrals to a specialist memory clinic in Sheffield and a community sample of patients from a general practice population in Melton Mowbray.

Method

The CAMCOG part of the Cambridge mental disorders of the elderly examination (CAMDEX) was assessed for 131 Sheffield subjects and 396 Melton Mowbray subjects to examine both total variability and differences between individual subscale items. Depression was also examined as this was a potential confounding factor.

Results

After adjustment for age, sex and depression scores, there were no significant differences between vascular dementia subjects and Alzheimer's disease subjects at either centre for total variability of cognitive deficits and little difference between diagnoses for individual subscale items. In Sheffield, subjects with vascular dementia had significantly higher depression scores compared to those with Alzheimer's disease.