Test scores from a comprehensive neuropsychological battery
administered to 1602 subjects consisting of 1347 subjects with
probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), 100 subjects with
questionable dementia (QD) and 155 non-demented elderly control
subjects were cross-sectionally analyzed. Subjects with probable
AD were categorized as mild (n = 244),
moderate (n = 480), severe (n
= 376), and very severe (n = 247) according
to modified mini mental status exam (mMMSE) scores. Mean scores
on individual neuropsychological tests are provided for each
group of subjects. Stratified random sampling was performed
to select a sample of mild AD subjects who were matched in age
and education to non-demented elderly controls, and analyses
focused on the performance of QD subjects and mild AD subjects,
whose scores were compared to those of the elderly control
subjects. Selected scores were organized by cognitive domain
and logistic regressions were used to determine the domains
and individual tests within each that were most predictive of
group status. Results suggested a profile of scores associated
with QD and mild AD including impaired recall of verbal information
for both groups. Areas of lower functioning in QD subjects as
compared to elderly controls included category fluency and
visuospatial ability. (JINS, 2003, 9, 720–732.)