Cognition and motor function: The gait and cognition pooled index.

<h4>Background</h4>There is a need for outcome measures with improved responsiveness to changes in pre-dementia populations. Both cognitive and motor function play important roles in neurodegeneration; motor function decline is detectable at early stages of cognitive decline. This proof of principle study used a Pooled Index approach to evaluate improved responsiveness of the predominant outcome measure (ADAS-Cog: Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale) when assessment of motor function is added.<h4>Methods</h4>Candidate Pooled Index variables were selected based on theoretical importance and pairwise correlation coefficients. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests assessed baseline discrimination. Standardized response means assessed responsiveness to longitudinal change.<h4>Results</h4>Final selected variables for the Pooled Index include gait velocity, dual-task cost of gait velocity, and an ADAS-Cog-Proxy (statistical approximation of the ADAS-Cog using similar cognitive tests). The Pooled Index and ADAS-Cog-Proxy scores had similar ability to discriminate between pre-dementia syndromes. The Pooled Index demonstrated trends of similar or greater responsiveness to longitudinal decline than ADAS-Cog-Proxy scores.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Adding motor function assessments to the ADAS-Cog may improve responsiveness in pre-dementia populations.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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