Parkinsonism & related disorders
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Mar 2013
How precise are activities of daily living scales for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease dementia? A pilot study.
Beside the presence of cognitive deficits, impaired activities of daily living (ADL) are crucial for the diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson's disease (PD). Several scales can be used to evaluate PD patients' ADL (dys)function. However, only a few of them sufficiently discriminate between demented and non-demented PD patients. It is well-known that the diagnostic accuracy of ADL scales for Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) is influenced by confounding variables such as motor worsening. ⋯ Standardized activities of daily living assessments like the Pill Questionnaire accompanied by neuropsychological testing can be a helpful tool for the diagnosis of PDD. Further studies are needed to verify these first results in larger cohorts.