This technology is a scale for clinician assessment of fluctuating cognition that can be used in the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).
Current methods to clinically diagnose dementia with Lewy bodies have low sensitivity and poor interrater reliability. One of the most important diagnostic criteria to identify and evaluate is fluctuating cognition, which is particularly challenging to assess and relies on subjective clinical judgement. While measuring variations in cortical activity using electroencephalography (EEG) can provide objective data to help detect fluctuating cognition, a structured and objective interview-based method will be more efficient and cost-effective for clinical use.
This rating scale is a two-item questionnaire to assess fluctuations in attention and alertness. The first question is worded to assess the presence of fluctuating consciousness, and the second question is for assessing fluctuating cognitive impairment. If either of the two items are met, then a rating of symptom frequency is made on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being the most frequent, and a rating of symptom duration is made on a scale of 0-4, with 4 being the longest duration. The frequency and duration scores are multiplied to achieve the severity score, from 0-16, with scores >5 indicating severe fluctuating cognition.
This technology has been validated in a study assessing fluctuating cognition in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies or Alzheimer’s disease.
IR CU22136
Licensing Contact: Dovina Qu
