Parkinsonism Relat Disord

Introduction

To describe the psychometric properties of the Penn Parkinson’s Daily Activities Questionnaire-15 (PDAQ-15), a 15-item measure of cognitive instrumental activities of daily living for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients derived from the original 50-item PDAQ.

Methods

PDAQ-15 items were chosen by expert consensus. Knowledgeable informants of PD participants (n=161) completed the PDAQ-15. Knowledgeable informants were defined as an individual having regular contact with the PD participant. PD participants were assigned a diagnosis of normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia based on expert consensus.

Results

PDAQ-15 scores correlated strongly with global cognition (Dementia Rating Scale-2, r=0.71, p<0.001) and a performance-based functional measure (Direct Assessment of Functional Status, r=0.83; p<0.001). PDAQ-15 scores accurately discriminated between non-demented PD participants (normal cognition/mild cognitive impairment) and PD with dementia (ROC curve area=0.91), with and without any cognitive impairment (normal cognition versus mild cognitive impairment/dementia, ROC curve area=0.85) and between participants with mild cognitive impairment and dementia (ROC curve area=0.84).

Conclusions

The PDAQ-15 shows good discriminant validity across cognitive stages, correlates highly with global cognitive performance, and appears suitable to assess daily cognitive functioning in PD.

26923524

PMC4818172

Journal Article

CDC Public Access