Resumen de Disability in a memory clinic: Frequency and associations with low cognitive performance

P. Gracia García, Raúl López Antón, Javier Santabárbara, C. de la Cámara Izquierdo, Pedro Saz Muñoz, L. Larraga, José Luis González Torrecillas, Manuel Fernández Braso, Miguel Ángel Quintanilla López

• 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.