New Publication – Mioshi, Kipps & Hodges
Mioshi E, Kipps CM, Hodges JR.
Title: Activities of Daily Living in behavioral variant frontotemporal ementia: differences in caregiver and performance-based assessments
Journal: Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders Journal
(in press)
Abstract
Patients with the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bv-FTD) have marked impairment in everyday life, yet little is known about factors underlying this impairment. Moreover, a recently identified subgroup with normal brain imaging has an excellent prognosis (phenocopy cases) and their performance on activities of daily living (ADL) tasks is unknown. 18 bv-FTD patients were assessed on two ADL measures, the Disability Assessment for Dementia, a caregiver-based interview, and the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills, a performance-based instrument. Behaviour change, global cognition, executive function, and MRI brain atrophy were also evaluated. There was no association between the two ADL measures. A model combining the ACE-R (global cognition) and FrSBe (frontal dysfunction) explained the variance on ADL performance. A qualitative rating distinguished between pathological and phenocopy patients better than the performance-based assessment.
Degree of frontal dysfunction and overall dementia determined the level of ADL impairment. The phenocopy patients were clearly distinguishable when evaluated using a performance-based, and even better with a qualitative rating assessment.
