The increase in consultations for changes and/or cognitive complaints in the elderly, together with the
current interest in epidemiological research in this context creates the need for screening tools for cognitive
assessment to enable the detection of early deficits. Evidence shows its predictive value in the development
of dementia disease. This study aims at displaying the results of a Cognitive Skills Questionnaire (CSQ) in
a patient population with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), both compared
with a control group (CG) with no cognitive disorder and verifying its sensitivity and specificity in order to
identify risk patients with cognitive disorder.
Participants and Methods: A total of 208 participants were evaluated, out of which 60 had MCI, 46 had
AD and a remaining group of 102 subjects who had no cognitive disorder. All participants were
administrated the CSQ and a battery of neuropsychological proofs. We analysed the statistical data using
ANOVA, Student’s t-test, Tuckey test, ROC curve and principal components analysis. A multiple regression
analysis was carried out so as to single out those questions which better differentiated the studied groups.
Results: The CSQ showed significant differences between the CG and both groups of patients (AD p> 0.01
and MCI p> 0.05). It was established a cut-off point of 17.5 in the CSQ total score with a sensitivity of 93%
and a specificity of 91.3%.
Conclusion: The CSQ could eventually allow us to identify patients with cognitive disorders and those
others with a cognitive complaint greater than expected. Thus, this questionnaire could be a useful testing
and counselling tool in health primary attention.
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