The lack of standardized criteria and methodologies to assess dementia
in patients with Parkinson's disease has resulted in inconsistencies and
controversies in the literature regarding the incidence and basis of this
condition. The authors examined a large group of patients with Parkinson's
disease using two standardized sets of criteria for dementia. The
neuropsychological data obtained was analyzed using stepwise discriminant
analysis, and a brief scale was developed. The results indicated that a
regression equation derived from just three neuropsychological procedures
(which take only 10 minutes to administer) provides maximum discrimination
between patients originally classified as demented or non-demented
according to standardized criteria. Cut-off values for the product of the
regression equation were calculated to accurately and reliably classify
patients using the brief scale.Abstract Teaser