Detecting cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease with a brief cognitive screening tool: the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE)

Detecting cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease is crucial for good clinical practice given the new therapeutic possibilities available. When full neuropsychological evaluations are not available, screening tools capable of detecting cognitive difficulties become crucial. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate whether the Spanish version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE) is capable of detecting cognitive difficulties in patients with Parkinson’s disease and discriminating their cognitive profile from patients with dementia. METHODS: 77 early dementia patients (53 with Alzheimer’s Disease and 24 with Frontotemporal Dementia), 22 patients with Parkinson’s disease, and 53 healthy controls were evaluated with the ACE. RESULTS: Parkinson’s disease patients significantly differed from both healthy controls and dementia patients on ACE total score. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the Spanish version of the ACE is capable of detecting patients with cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease and is able to differentiate them from patients with dementia based on their general cognitive status.