Session Information
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Session Title: Cognition and Cognitive Disorders
Session Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm
Location: Agora 3 East, Level 3
Objective: To determine the frequency and impact of cognitive complaints in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with normal cognition (NC).
Background: PD patients are at a high risk for developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia (PDD), yet little is known about the progression from normal cognition (NC) to MCI or PDD. This is of particular importance in the context of the shift in the neurodegenerative disease research landscape to focus on preclinical and prodromal patients in an effort to develop more effective and timely intervention strategies.
Method: PD patients with expert consensus-determined NC at baseline were asked a single question regarding subjective presence of cognitive complaints. Baseline (n=154) and longitudinal (n=123) between-group differences in PD patients with (+CC) and without (-CC) cognitive complaints were examined, including both global and detailed cognitive test performance, and self- and informant-rated functional abilities.
Results: Eighty-two (53%) participants reported a cognitive complaint. At baseline there were no between-group differences in cognition. Longitudinally the +CC group declined more than the -CC group on global cognition (Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 total score (F=(1, 435)=5.28; p=0.02) and two detailed cognitive tests (Symbol Digit Modalities Test (F=(1, 334.52)=5.98; p=0.02); Trails B (F=(1, 325.46)=6.23; p=0.01). The +CC group also demonstrated significantly lower self- and knowledgeable informant-reported cognition-related functional abilities at baseline, and declined more on an assessment of global functional abilities longitudinally.
Conclusion: PD patients with normal cognition by expert consensus process, but with subjective cognitive complaint, perform worse on cognition-specific functional abilities and decline more over time on measures of global cognition, executive abilities, and global functional abilities. These findings suggest that subjective cognitive complaints and assessment of cognition-related functional abilities may be sensitive indicators of initial cognitive decline in PD with long-term prognostic significance.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
R. Purri, L. Brennan, J. Rick, S. Xie, B. Deck, L. Chahine, N. Dahodwala, A. Chen-Plotkin, J. Duda, J. Morley, R. Akhtar, J. Trojanowski, D. Weintraub. Cognitive complaint in Parkinson’s disease patients with normal cognition: Canary in the coal mine? [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2019; 34 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/cognitive-complaint-in-parkinsons-disease-patients-with-normal-cognition-canary-in-the-coal-mine/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2019 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/cognitive-complaint-in-parkinsons-disease-patients-with-normal-cognition-canary-in-the-coal-mine/