Objective: In this study, we identified among Parkinson Disease patients those pre-disposed to cognitive impairment, and described their clinical profiles.

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting >1% of the population ≥65 years of age and with a prevalence set to double by 2030. In addition to the defining motor symptoms of PD, multiple non-motor symptoms occur; among them, cognitive impairment is common and can potentially occur at any disease stage.

Method: We conducted an observational retrospective study in the department of neurology of Charles Nicolle hospital of Tunis.We recruited patients being diagnosed with parkinson disease.We evaluated cognitive functions based on Mini-Mental State Examination, we evaluated also frontal functionts throug Frontal assessement battery and depression through geriatry depression scale.

Results: We have included 30 patients, with a mean age of 65 years(range 48 to 79), and with a sex ratio of 1.14. Our study showed deficits in several areas of cognition .Cognitive impairment was noted in 60% of patients and it was mild cognitive impairment in all cases. all patients were having executive dysfunction. Mean of MMSE for the patients was 25.2 and mean MMST was 67.06. Apraxia was found in 4 patients (13.3% ) with mainly constructive apraxia. Speech and language abilities were also affected in 26.6% (8patients) with mainly hypokinetic dysarthria.

Conclusion: The profile of cognitive dysfunction in PD patients is heterogeneous, but typically affects memory, attention, and executive as well as visual-spatial abilities .Our results emphasize that cognitive functions in PD seem to underlie a slow progression which is heterogeneous and still not properly investigated. Therefore, our results show the need for larger PD cohorts that are examined over longer periods of follow-up with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/cognition-in-parkinson-disease-tunisian-clinical-experience/