Cut-off scores for mild and moderate dementia on the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III and the Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination compared with the Mini-Mental State Examination

Abstract

Aims and method We aimed to establish cut-off scores to stage dementia on the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III (ACE-III) and the Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (M-ACE) compared with scores traditionally used with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Our cross-sectional study recruited 80 patients and carers from secondary care services in the UK. Results A score ≤76 on the ACE-III and ≤19 on the M-ACE correlated well with MMSE cut-offs for mild dementia, with a good fit on the receiver operating characteristic analysis for both the ACE-III and M-ACE. The cut-off for moderate dementia had lower sensitivity and specificity. There were low to moderate correlations between the cognitive scales and scales for everyday functioning and behaviour. Clinical implications Our findings allow an objective interpretation of scores on the ACE-III and the M-ACE relative to the MMSE, which may be helpful for clinical services and research trials.

Keywords

• Carers
• community mental health teams
• dementia
• rating scales
• psychological testing