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Background and objective To document the frequency of disability in a Psychiatry Memory Clinic (MC); to test the conjecture that there is an association between low cognitive performance and disability, even when controlling by dementia and clinically significant depression.
Methods A sample of 158 individuals referred to a Psychiatry MC were assessed with a full clinical protocol. Instruments used: Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE); Semantic verbal fluency; the Clock Drawing test; Katz Index; Lawton and Brody Scale. DSM-IV criteria were used for diagnosing depression and dementia. The statistical analysis included logistic regression models.
Results The frequency of disability was 71.6%. MMSE score was significantly associated with moderate-severe disability on instrumental activities of daily living (ADL's) (OR 0.83; 95%CI 0.72–0.96) and with social ADL's (OR 0.87; 95%CI 0.79–0.95)). Orientation, attention and language MMSE subscores were the cognitive domains most significantly associated with disability.
Conclusions Disability in patients referred to a Psychiatry MC with a heterogeneous clinical population is associated with low cognitive performance. The probability of having moderate-severe disability is related to the degree of impairment on MMSE global scores.
