Validating a brief performance-based measure of cognition and daily functioning in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease

Background The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale is widely used as a cognitive and functional measure in Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trials. Given its time and personnel burden, there is a need to more efficiently identify patients who warrant further evaluation or clinical trial qualification. To potentially address this need, a novel performance-based test of cognition and daily functioning has been developed for use in AD research and clinical care.Objective To test whether this novel performance-based test is associated with levels of daily functioning in both impaired and unimpaired individuals.Methods One-hundred-seventy-one participants (72 cognitively unimpaired; 53 amnestic mild cognitive impairment; 46 mild AD) completed the novel performance-based test of cognition and daily functioning, as well as the Quick Dementia Rating System (QDRS) for estimating global CDR.Results The novel test was significantly associated with the QDRS Total, as well as the Behavioral and Cognitive subdomains, and differentiated between estimated global CDR scores of 0 versus >= 0.5. No significant effect of age, sex, or education on the performance-based test was observed.Conclusions The performance-based test used in this study can be considered a measure of cognition and daily functioning. As such, it may be a quick, objective method for identifying impaired individuals who may qualify for clinical trial enrollment or may warrant further evaluation without the need for informant input.