Alzheimer disease

Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE): Cut-off Scores for Ecuadorian Adult Population

Background: The MMSE is one of the most widely used tests for the detection of dementia and cognitive impairment, however, cut-off points differ between countries.

Objective: To generate MMSE cut-off scores for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease in Ecuadorian population aged 55 to 85 years.

Methods: 390 subjects were evaluated, 76 had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The level of dementia, functional autonomy, depression levels, sociodemographic and clinical variables of interest were measured. A regression model was performed to adjust the MMSE scores for the estimated values. The results were corrected using a multiple regression model. Cut-off points were obtained by ROC curve analysis.

Results: The variables Grade (T=5.2, p<0.001) and Age range (T=-7.95, p<0.001) were the only variables that had an effect on MMSE scores of 22% of the variance (R2 adjRadj2 =0.22). An education-adjusted cut-off point of 22.81 was obtained with a sensitivity of 0.97 and a specificity of 0.88.

Conclusion: This information may increase the accuracy in the use and interpretation of the MMSE in the Ecuadorian population.

Leer artículo completo

Palabras clave: demencia, deterioro cognitivo, Enfermedad de Alzheimer, escala de tamizaje, nivel educativo,

Keywords: Alzheimer disease, cognitive impairment, dementia, educational level, screening scale,

Estado funcional en la Enfermedad de Alzheimer: Más allá del deterioro cognitivo. Functional status in Alzheimer’s Disease: Beyond cognitive impairment.

Leer artículo completo

Palabras clave: actividades de la vida diaria, Enfermedad de Alzheimer, fragilidad, multimorbilidad, valoración geriátrica integral,

Keywords: activities of daily living, Alzheimer disease, comprehensive geriatric assessment, frailty, multimorbidity,

Tasa de Hospitalización Según Comorbilidades en Pacientes con Alzheimer en el Hospital Teodoro Maldonado Carbo. Hospitalization Rate According To Comorbidities In Alzheimer’s Patients At Hospital Teodoro Maldonado Carbo.

Introduction: According to World Health Organization (WHO) 2017 report there are 50 millions of people with dementia worldwide and 60% to 70% of cases belong to Alzheimer’s Disease. The WHO admit that dementia is a public health priority. Aims: Descriptive analysis of patients Alzheimer’s Disease in Guayaquil, Ecuador, focused hospitalization and mortality predictors. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Multivariate and univariate logistic regression analysis to indicate predictors of hospitalization by pneumonia and mortality. Results: 42.57% of the sample was men and the average age was 80.02 years. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, the most associated comorbidity to increase the risk of pneumonia were Diabetes Mellitus combined with Arterial Hypertension (OR 5.62, 95% CI (1.17 – 26.96) p 0.031), statistically significant. Antipsychotic medication increase the pneumonia risk with a statistically significant meaning (OR 3.03, 95% CI (1.23 – 7.44) p 0.016). Conclusion: Future studies should focus on report the effect of medications and comorbidities on admissions in patients with Alzheimer. Guidelines to focus prevent common causes of hospitalization in these patients should be adapted.