Three-minute test detects Lewy Body dementia

  • An easy new rating scale will help those with Lewy Body dementia be diagnosed much more quickly.

After Alzheimer's disease, the next most common type of dementia is Lewy Body disease. Far less widely known, this form of dementia is often diagnosed quite late. A new study has validated a simple rating scale that non-specialist clinicians can use to quickly and effectively diagnose LBD in about three minutes.

The Lewy Body Composite Risk Score (LBCRS) is a simple, one-page survey with structured yes/no questions for six non-motor features that are present in patients with LBD, but are much less commonly found in other forms of dementia.

The study involved 256 patients referred from the community. The LBCRS was able to discriminate between Alzheimer's disease and LBD with 96.8% accuracy, and provided sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 87%.

Earlier diagnosis will not only reduce the strain on sufferers and their families, but also reduce the risk of inappropriate medications that can have potentially serious adverse consequences, and increase the opportunity to receive appropriate symptomatic therapies at the earliest stages when they are likely to be most effective.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/fau-ttd102315.php

Reference: 

[4041] Galvin, J. E.
(2015).  Improving the clinical detection of Lewy body dementia with the Lewy body composite risk score.
Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. 1(3), 316 - 324.

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