Premium
Cognitive assessment in alzheimer's disease: What does the camcog assess?
Author(s) -
Greifenhagen A.,
Kurz A.,
Wiseman M.,
Haupt M.,
Zimmer R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.930090909
Subject(s) - psychology , dementia , cognition , perception , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , disease , audiology , psychiatry , medicine , neuroscience , pathology
The CAMDEX (Cambridge Mental Disorders of the Elderly Examination) is a widely used instrument for the diagnosis of dementia. It contains a cognitive section (CAMCOG) which consists of 60 items grouped into eight a priori subscales (orientation, language, memory, praxis, attention, abstract thinking, perception and calculation). A principal component analysis was performed on CAMCOG data from 191 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (mild to moderate dementia). The analysis identified four factors which were interpreted clinically as representing language/praxis, visuoconstructive abilities, remote memory and short‐term memory. These factors differed in number and in composition from the a priori subscales postulated by the developers of the instrument. The results of the principal component analysis of empirical CAMCOG data demonstrate an overlap and potentiation of different cognitive deficits in AD.