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- Title
DISCRIMINATING POWER OF THE HACHINSKI ISCHAEMIC SCORE IN A GERIATRIC POPULATION WITH MILD DEMENTIA.
- Authors
Swanwick, Gregory R. J.; Coen, Robert F.; Lawlor, Brian A.; Mahony, Denis O.; Walsh, J. Bernard; Coakley, Davis
- Abstract
The Hachinski Ischaemic Score (HIS) is used to clinically discriminate multi-infarct dementia (MID) and primary degenerative dementia (PDD). The present study aims to evaluate the discriminating power of the individual HIS items in a geriatric population with mild dementia. The 13 HIS items were studied in 93 demented subjects with no evidence of infarction, a single cortical infarcts or multiple cortical infarcts on CT brain scan. The item 'hypertension' was a poor discriminator between PDD and MID in this elderly population: however, the remaining unambiguous items 'abrupt onset', 'neurological signs', `neurological symptoms', 'history of stroke' and atherosclerosis' were useful discriminators. We found that five of the least discriminating items diverged from the aspects of MID that they were originally intended to address and were, therefore, particularly ambiguous. In order to improve the discriminating power of these items and the HIS as a whole, we recommend dividing the 131 Inns into four categories, 'evidence of delirium', 'evidence of local deficits', 'evidence of vascular pathology' and 'abrupt onset', to minimize any problems with interpretation of the more ambiguous items.
- Subjects
DEMENTIA; CEREBROVASCULAR disease; GERIATRICS; HYPERTENSION; ATHEROSCLEROSIS; OLDER people
- Publication
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 1995, Vol 10, Issue 8, p679
- ISSN
0885-6230
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/gps.930100808