Abstract

FRANSEN, Natalia Lemos et al. Accuracy of functional performance in healthy elderly subjects, with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Temas psicol. [online]. 2018, vol.26, n.4, pp. 1907-1919. ISSN 1413-389X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.9788/TP2018.4-08Pt.

It is challenging to establish the continuum of cognitive and functional decline in normal to pathological aging. In this transition is the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), defined by subtle impairment in cognition and functionality. When functional impairment increases, it meets the criteria for dementia. Thus, it is essential to determine an accurate diagnosis from the functional evaluation. The aim of this study was to compare functional performance through direct versus indirect assessments, verify the relationship between them, and evaluate the accuracy of it within the control group, MCI and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Ninety subjects (n = 27 controls, n = 35 MCI and n = 28 AD) participated in the study. We used the Activities of the Daily Living Questionnaire (ADL-Q) and the Direct Assessment of Functional Status (DAFS-R). MANCOVA was performed to compare the direct functional performance, and ROC curves were used to verify the diagnostic accuracy of the scales among groups. The performance of the direct assessment showed differences between the controls and MCI, and between MCI and AD subjects. Both scales showed differences between MCI and AD, and DAFS-R showed differences between controls and MCI. Thus, DAFS-R demonstrated better accuracy of functional performance in these groups.

Keywords : Functional performance; Aging; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Alzheimer's disease.

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