The importance of Alzheimer disease assessment scale-cognitive part in predicting progress for amnestic mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer disease.

The aim of this study was to verify the usefulness of
Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale
(ADAS-Cog), in screening participants at risk of
developing Alzheimer disease (AD) among populations
with amnestic mild cognitive impairment(aMCI). 98
outpatients with aMCI were recruited. Participants
were revaluated after 1 year: 44 (44.9%) were progressed
to AD (progressors), while 54 (55.1%) did not
convert (nonprogressors MCI). At baseline, cognitive
performances were more impaired in progressors
assessed by MMSE and by a neuropsychological
battery. When tested with the ADAS-Cog subscale,
the 2 groups of participants at baseline, progressors,
and nonprogressors MCI, were significantly different
regarding total score, memory, and nonmemory
subitems. Considering a cutoff of 9.5 total score,
adjusted for education, ADAS-Cog subscale showed a
good performance (area under the curve ¼ 0.67;
sensitivity ¼ 0.62%; specificity ¼ 0.73%) in predicting
conversion from aMCI to AD. Progressors aMCI were
characterized at baseline by a greater cognitive
impairment. ADAS-Cog subscale is a useful and brief
cognitive assessment tool to screen aMCI participants
converting to AD within 1 year.