Annachiara Cagnin (Italy)
University of Padua Department of Neurosciences,Author Of 1 Presentation
THE ITALIAN DEMENTIA WITH LEWY BODIES STUDY GROUP (DLB-SINDEM): A MULTICENTER SURVEY ON THE ACCURACY AND THE PREVALENCE OF DLB DIAGNOSIS
- Mirella Russo (Italy)
Abstract
Background and Aims:
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common neurodegenerative cause of dementia. However, clinical diagnosis can be challenging. Two toolkits have been deverloped to aid the clinical diagnosis of DLB: the Lewy Body Composite Risk Score (LBCRS) and the Assessment Toolkit for DLB (AT-DLB). The aim of the present study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these two questionnaires, as well as their capacity to enhance application and interpretation of the Consensus Criteria.
Methods:
In this study, LBCRS and AT-DLB were distributed to 135 Cognitive Decline and Dementia Centers (CDCD). We asked to administer the two questionnaires to all patients referred within the following three months, independently from the clinical diagnosis, and also to apply Consensus Criteria for DLB diagnosis, according to the results of each of the two toolkits, to all subjects.
Results:
A total of 23 Centers participated to the survey, and 2006 patients were enrolled. Diagnosis of dementia was not concordant in 152 (7.58%) subjects, who were excluded from the cohort. Of the 1854 remaining patients, 56.53% were female; the mean age was 75.06±14.58 years. LBCRS toolkit showed a good reliability (Cronbach-alpha=0.77), even when removing variables from the construct Conversely, AT-DLB toolkit Cronbach-alpha was 0.52 and, after the subtraction of the “cognitive fluctuation” criterion, was only 0.31.
Conclusions:
In a clinical setting, LBCRS questionnaire shows a better diagnostic accuracy for DLB diagnosis than AT-DLB questionnaire. Further investigations should focus on the assessment of LBCRS capacity to identify DLB patients at prodromal stages.