Objective: Dementias are divided into two groups: cortical and subcortical. High cerebral dysfunction is frequently observed in the cortical group, unlike the subcortical. While Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is cortical dementia, Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) is subcortical. Dokuz Eylul Cognitive Assessment Apraxia Test (DEKODa) and the apraxia screen of Test for Upper Limb Apraxia (TULIA) (AST) are praxis tests that screen for apraxia. This study aims to differentiate AD from PDD through praxis tests.
Method: Patients with AD, PDD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy control groups were included in the study from a neurodegenerative diseases clinic. Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), clock drawing test (CDT), and apraxia screening tests (DEKODa and AST) were applied to subjects. All the data were compared between the groups. SPSS version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis. A significance level of p<0.05 was considered.
Results: The study included patients with AD (n=34), PDD (n=31), MCI (n=29), and 28 healthy subjects were included in the study. While there was no significant difference in MMSE (p=0.053) and CDT (p=0.633) between AD and PDD, DEKODa (p<0.001) and AST (p <0.001) scores were lower in AD than PDD. The sensitivity and specificity of DEKODa were determined to be 96.8% and 70.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of AST were determined to be 93.5% and 73.5%, respectively.
Conclusion: The results indicated that DEKODa and AST may be effective tools for differentiating AD from PDD. Additionally, DEKODa, initially used in PDD, demonstrated the ability to evaluate apraxia with similar sensitivity and specificity to AST.