Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III: psychometric characteristics and relations to functional ability in dementia

Matthew So, David Foxe, Fiona Kumfor, Cynthia Murray, Sharpley Hsieh, Greg Savage, Rebekah M. Ahmed, James R. Burrell, John R. Hodges, Muireann Irish, Olivier Piguet*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    81 Citations (Scopus)
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    Abstract

    Objectives: The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) is a common cognitive screening test for dementia. Here, we examined the relationship between the most recent version (ACE-III) and its predecessor (ACE-R), determined ACE-III cutoff scores for the detection of dementia, and explored its relationship with functional ability. Methods: Study 1 included 199 dementia patients and 52 healthy controls who completed the ACE-III and ACE-R. ACE-III total and domain scores were regressed on their corresponding ACE-R values to obtain conversion formulae. Study 2 included 331 mixed dementia patients and 87 controls to establish the optimal ACE-III cutoff scores for the detection of dementia using receiver operator curve analysis. Study 3 included 194 dementia patients and their carers to investigate the relationship between ACE-III total score and functional ability. Results: Study 1: ACE-III and ACE-R scores differed by ≤1 point overall, the magnitude varying according to dementia type. Study 2: a new lower bound cutoff ACE-III score of 84/100 to detect dementia was identified (compared with 82 for the ACE-R). The upper bound cutoff score of 88/100 was retained. Study 3: ACE-III scores were significantly related to functional ability on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale across all dementia syndromes, except for semantic dementia. Conclusions: This study represents one of the largest and most clinically diverse investigations of the ACE-III. Our results demonstrate that the ACE-III is an acceptable alternative to the ACE-R. In addition, ACE-III performance has broader clinical implications in that it relates to carer reports of functional impairment in most common dementias.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)854-863
    Number of pages10
    JournalJournal of the International Neuropsychological Society
    Volume24
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2018

    Bibliographical note

    Copyright The International Neuropsychological Society 2018 . Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

    Keywords

    • Alzheimer’s disease
    • frontotemporal dementia
    • cognitive screening test
    • neuropsychological assessment
    • Clinical Dementia Rating scale
    • activities of daily living

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