A longitudinal evaluation of cognitive functional features predictive of Parkinson disease in an elderly cohort

About one third of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) which may increase with disease progression. Practical methods to identify PD-MCI through daily life activities remain to be elucidated.
After following patients (n=34) with PD for 1 year, initial measures of cognitive functional (CF) features (7 self-reported items from the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale) correlated with final CF measures. Hierarchical statistical regression models further indicated that baseline MCI, visual attention and task switching, and depression scores were predictors of the final Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-CF scores.
According to the authors, CF features may be useful for predicting cognitive decline in people living with PD.