Title:Predicting Dementia Due to Alzheimer’s Disease and Behavioral Variant
Frontotemporal Dementia Using Algorithms with the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive
Examination-Revised Subscores Combined with Sociodemographic
Factors
Volume: 20
Issue: 5
Author(s): Viviane Amaral-Carvalho, Thais Bento Lima-Silva, Luciano Inácio Mariano, Leonardo Cruz de Souza, Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães, Valeria Santoro Bahia, Ricardo Nitrini, Maira Tonidandel Barbosa, Mônica Sanches Yassuda and Paulo Caramelli*
Affiliation:
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurologia, Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade
de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Behavior and Cognitive Neurology Research Group, Departamento de
Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais,
Brazil
- Programa
de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG,
Brazil
Keywords:
Cognition, dementia, frontotemporal dementia, alzheimer's disease, aging, neuropsychological tests.
Abstract:
Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia
(bvFTD) are important causes of dementia with challenging differential diagnoses in many cases.
Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) is a cognitive battery that may be useful
to differentiate the two disorders.
Objective: The objectibe of this study is to investigate the value of the ACE-R combined with sociodemographic
factors in the differential diagnosis between AD and bvFTD.
Methods: The ACE-R was administered to 102 patients with mild dementia due to probable AD,
37 with mild bvFTD, and 135 controls. Performances of patients and controls were analyzed by logistic
regression and by ROC curves to refine the diagnostic accuracy of the ACE-R in AD and
bvFTD.
Results: The ACE-R subscores Attention and Orientation, Fluency, and Memory, in combination
with schooling differentiated AD from controls with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.936
(86% sensitivity and 87% specificity). The ACE-R subscores Attention and Orientation, Fluency,
and Language, in combination with sex (male), age, and schooling, discriminated bvFTD from controls
with an AUC of 0.908 (81% sensitivity and 95% specificity). In the differentiation between
AD and bvFTD, the ACE-R subscores Attention and Orientation, Fluency, and Language, together
with age, displayed an AUC of 0.865 (78% sensitivity and 85% specificity).
Conclusion: The combination of ACE-R scores with sociodemographic data allowed good differentiation
between AD and bvFTD in the study sample.
