Abstract
ABSTRACT.The preclinical stages of dementia include subtle neurocognitive changes that are not easily detected in standard clinical evaluations. Neuropsychological evaluation is important for the classification and prediction of deterioration in all the phases of dementia.Objective: Compare the neuropsychological performance in healthy older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using principal components analysis.Methods: We evaluated 94 older adults with a clinical protocol which included general measures of mental, emotional and functional state. The neuropsychological protocol included tasks of memory, executive function, attention, verbal fluency and visuoconstructional abilities. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce variables´ dimensionality on neuropsychological evaluation.Results: 33(35%) participants had a normal cognitive function, 35(37%) had subjective cognitive decline and 26(28%) had a mild cognitive impairment. The PCA showed seven factors: processing speed, memory, visuoconstruction, verbal fluency and executive components of cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory. ANOVA had shown significant differences between the groups in the memory (F=4.383, p=0.016, η2p=0.087) and visuoconstructional components (F=5.395, p=0.006, η2p=0.105). Post hoc analysis revealed lower memory scores in MCI than SCD participants and in visuospatial abilities between MCI and SCD and MCI and Normal participants.Conclusions: We observed differentiated cognitive profiles among the participants in memory and visuoconstruction components. The use of PCA in the neuropsychological evaluation could help to make a differentiation of cognitive abilities in preclinical stages of dementia.
Highlights
There is a progressive aging of the population in lowand middle-income countries
The principal component analysis showed a solution of 7 factors: processing speed, memory, visuoconstruction, verbal fluency and the executive components of cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory (Table 2)
The objective of this research was to compare the neuropsychological characteristics in preclinical stages of dementia based on principal component analysis
Summary
There is a progressive aging of the population in lowand middle-income countries. By 2050, 80% of aged people are expected to live in these countries.[1] As a consequence, health care challenges are faced especially in the detection, follow-up, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, those associated with dementia, which affect the patient’s quality of life and their families and the entire social and health system.[2]. Recent studies in Peru, based on brief cognitive tests, have estimated that 17.9% of older adults have amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI),[5] but there are no data on the prevalence of SCD
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