Session Information
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Session Title: Parkinson's disease: Cognition
Session Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported cognitive complaints in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) in link with the presence of objective cognitive impairment.
Background: iRBD is a parasomnia considered as a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Studies have reported cognitive decline in iRBD patients, but to date, no study has investigated self-reported cognitive complaints in this population according to their cognitive status.
Methods: One hundred and fifteen polysomnography-confirmed iRBD patients, including 53 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. We also administrated the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) which assesses cognitive complaints in daily life. Independent-samples t-test was used for between-group comparison (between patients with MCI versus those without MCI). Moreover, two-tailed Pearson correlations were used to assess relationships between the CFQ and neuropsychological tests.
Results: On the CFQ, iRBD patients with MCI did not report more cognitive complaints than iRBD patients without MCI (p=0.31). In addition, the CFQ total score correlated positively with the scores on memory, visuoconstructive, and language tests. Thus, reporting more cognitive difficulties was associated with better performance on the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test [sum of trials 1 to 5 (r=0.24; p<0.05), immediate recall (r=0.22; p<0.05), and delayed recall (r=0.22; p<0.05)], copy of the Rey Complex Figure Test (r=0.26; p<0.01), and Vocabulary subtest of the WAIS-III (r=0.25; p<0.05). Attention and executive functions tests (Stroop, Trail Making Test, Bells test, Verbal fluency, Digit Span, Coding) were not correlated with the CFQ total score.
Conclusions: Our results show that self-reported cognitive complaints are not related to objective cognitive impairment in patients with iRBD. In fact, patients reporting more cognitive complaints performed better on several cognitive tasks. Therefore, self-reported difficulties in iRBD may not be considered as a reliable sign of cognitive decline and may not be used as criteria for MCI, as it has been previously reported in other populations.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
P.A. Bourgouin, F. Escudier, L. Bernier-Lalonger, R.B. Postuma, J. Montplaisir, J.F. Gagnon. Self-reported cognitive complaints and neuropsychological performance in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/self-reported-cognitive-complaints-and-neuropsychological-performance-in-idiopathic-rem-sleep-behavior-disorder/. Accessed June 14, 2025.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/self-reported-cognitive-complaints-and-neuropsychological-performance-in-idiopathic-rem-sleep-behavior-disorder/