“aqt”-a Measure of Cognitive Speed- in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Objectives: To investigate (a) how patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) perform on A Quick Test for Cognitive Speed (AQT) compared to patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ageand sex-matched controls and (b) if this test might be helpful in distinguishing DLB from AD at comparable cognitive levels. Methods: Twenty-three patients with DLB, 18 patients with AD and 24 controls were included. The time in seconds to complete the AQT were recorded for the three independent study groups according to standard directives. Results: The DLB patients had significantly longer reading times than the AD patients at equivalent and relatively high Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) levels. Conclusion: We suggest that slow performance on the AQT at relatively high MMSE levels could be one way of distinguishing DLB from AD. This may have clinical implications for treatment as well as for understanding the neuropathological properties of the disease.