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Rating scale quickly, accurately diagnoses Lewy body dementia

A brief rating scale was able to diagnose Lewy body dementia with good sensitivity and specificity in approximately 3 minutes, according to recent study findings.

“Most patients never receive an evaluation by a neurologist skilled in the diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, and significant delays and misdiagnoses occur in most patients with this disease,” James E. Galvin, MD, MPH, of New York University Langone Medical Center, said in a press release. “This new tool has the potential to provide a clearer, more accurate picture for those patients who are unable to be seen by specialists, hastening the correct diagnosis and reducing the strain and burden placed on patients and caregivers.”

James E. Galvin

Galvin and colleagues developed the Lewy Body Composite Risk Score from autopsy-verified cases of Lewy Bodies dementia to improve the ability to detect the disease in clinical and research populations.

They compared the Lewy Body Composite Risk Score (LBCRS) with the Clinical Dementia Rating and gold standard measures of cognition, motor symptoms, function and behavior among 256 individuals with various behavioral, affective, motor symptoms and diagnoses, education levels and comorbidities.

Mean LBCRS scores were significantly different between those with Lewy body dementia and those with Alzheimer’s disease (P < .001) and between those with mild cognitive impairment due to Lewy body dementia and those with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (P < .001).

According to researchers, the LBCRS was able to distinguish Lewy body dementia from other causes of dementia with 96.8% accuracy, 90% sensitivity and 87% specificity.

“Early detection of Lewy body dementias will be important to enable future interventions at the earliest stages when they are likely to be most effective,” Galvin said in the release. “Our study provides evidence-based methodology that will have applications in clinical practice, participation in clinical trials, prevention studies, community surveys, and biomarkers research.”

Disclosure: Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.