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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.

Background: There is a close interaction between cognitive and functional performance in the normal brain. It increases in cases of brain disease, where a worse initial cognitive performance is associated with subsequent functional decline.Objective: To describe the cognitive and functional performance profile and their interaction in a population of patients with Vascular Dementia (VD). Methods:We studied 79 patients (Group 1, G1) with VD and 80 healthy subjects without brain disease (Group 2, G2). The following tests were administered to all the study population: ADAS Cog., Trail Making Test (TMT), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL, IADL), Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), and Gottfries-Brane-Steen Scale (GBS). Scores were statistically evaluated usingthe ANOVA Test, Spearman's correlation matrix and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results:The average age of G1 was 72.6 + 7.1 and their literacy level was 8.05 + 4.76 years. The cognitive profile showed a significant global decline in the MMSE (19.9 + 3.77 points) and in the ADAS Cog (29.2 + 8.80 points). In this group, the cognitive functions most compromised were Memory, Orientation and Recognition and, to a lesser degree, Attention, Language and Praxis. The functional profile showed the greatest impairment in IADL. The PCA showed a correlation of ADAS with TMT and Katz Index, and of MMSE and DAD. Conclusions:The results highlight the interaction between complex functional performance and cognition, suggesting an impact of cognitive impairments linked to executive function on functional performance, of potential therapeutic significance.