A Clinical Investigation Of Mild Cognitive Impairment In Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Objective: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), which is called"PD-MCI". But the prevalence and neuropsychological profile of PD-MCI is still unknown, so the purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence and neuropsychological character of PD-MCI.Subject and methods: A sample of 103 PD patients and a control group consisting of 32 healthy old subjects were chosen. Psychometric assessment included the Mini Mental State Examination, the Dementia Rating Scale and a series of neuropsychological tests. The Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression was used to assess depression in PD patients.Results: (1) 21(20.4%) PD patients was diagnosed with Dementia, 45(43.7%) had a mild cognitive impairment and only 37 (35.9%) had no cognitive impairment; (2) Subjects with PD-MCI were older, had a later onset of the Parkinson's disease, and displayed more severe motor symptoms compared with those without cognitive impairment;(3) The prevalence and neuropsychological profile of PD-MCI were thought to correlate with the dominating side and subtype of Parkinsonian symptoms.Conclusion: Identification of mild cognitive impairment is of important clinical siginificance, which helps doctors treat patients differently and thus facilitate the judgment of prognosis.