Attentional Differences according to the Subcortical White Matter Hyperintensities in Patients with Alzheimer Disease and Subcortical Vascular Dementia using Attention Questionnaire Scale

Background: Attention is too difficult to measure quantification due to the numerous affected variables. Attention Questionnaire Scale (AQS) is a newly developed scale for the evaluation of the patient's attention. The aim of this study was to adapt AQS to evaluate the correlation between attention and subcortical hyperintensities (SH) to the patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease (AD) or subcortical vascular dementia (SVD). Methods: Patients with mild to moderate AD or SVD were recruited from March 2008 to February 2010. On magnetic resonance imaging, deep white matter (DWM) hyperintensities were classified into D1 (the longest diameter of DWM lesion <10 mm), D2 (10 mm${\leq}$DWM${\leq}$24 mm), and D3 (25 mm and that of the CDR was $1.3{\pm}0.9$. Mean score of AQS was $17.1{\pm}7.9$. The correlation between AQS and other scales such as K-MMSE, CDR and GDS were all significant (the correlation coefficiency was 0,317, -0.474, -0.472, respectively). Unlike other scales AQS showed significant differences between minimal and moderate or severe SH group ($18.7{\pm}7.7$, $15.2{\pm}6.6$, $15.4{\pm}8.6$, p=0.007). Conclusions: AQS is a useful dementia scale for the evaluation of the degree of SH in the patients with mild to moderate AD or SVD.

주의력 설문지 척도(Attention Questionnaire Scale)를 이용한 알츠하이머병과 피질하혈관성치매 환자의 피질하 고신호병변에 따른 주의집중력의 차이