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A brief cognitive test battery to differentiate Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia
Mathuranath PS, Nestor PJ, Berrios GE, Rakowicz W, Hodges JR.. Neurology, 2000-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objectives To validate a simple bedside test battery designed to detect mild dementia and differentiate AD from frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Methods Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) is a 100-point test battery that assesses six cognitive domains. Of 210 new patients attending a memory clinic, 139 fulfilled inclusion criteria and comprised dementia (n = 115) and nondementia (n = 24) groups. The composite and the component scores on the ACE for the two groups were compared with those of 127 age- and education-matched controls. Norms and the probability of diagnosing dementia at different prevalence rates were calculated. To evaluate the ACE's ability to differentiate early AD from FTD, scores of the cases diagnosed with dementia with a Clinical Dementia Rating Results Two cut-off values for the ACE composite score (88 and 83) were of optimal utility depending on the target population. The ACE had high reliability, construct validity, and sensitivity (93%, using 88 as cut-off). Using the lower cut-off of 83, the ACE had a higher sensitivity (82%) and predictive value than the Mini-Mental State Examination for a wide range of dementia prevalence. The ACE differentiated AD from FTD, and the VLOM ratio (derived using component scores: [verbal fluency + language]/[orientation + memory]) of 3.2 for AD was highly discriminating. Conclusion The ACE is a brief and reliable bedside instrument for early detection of dementia, and offers a simple objective index to differentiate AD and FTD in mildly demented patients.
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APA 7th
Mathuranath, P. S., Nestor, P. J., Berrios, G. E., Rakowicz, W., & Hodges, JR. (2000). A brief cognitive test battery to differentiate Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000434309.85312.19
Vancouver
Mathuranath PS, Nestor PJ, Berrios GE, Rakowicz W, Hodges JR. A brief cognitive test battery to differentiate Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Neurology. 2000. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000434309.85312.19. PMID: 11113213.
BibTeX
@article{mathuranath2000-11113213,
author = {Mathuranath, P. S. and Nestor, P. J. and Berrios, G. E. and Rakowicz, W. and Hodges, JR.},
title = {{A brief cognitive test battery to differentiate Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2000},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000434309.85312.19},
pmid = {11113213},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000434309.85312.19}
}
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Key findings
- The composite and the component scores on the ACE for the two groups were compared with those of 127 age- and education-matched controls.
- To evaluate the ACE's ability to differentiate early AD from FTD, scores of the cases diagnosed with dementia with a Clinical Dementia Rating Results Two cut-off values for the ACE composite score (88 and 83) were of optimal utility depending on the target population.
Why it matters
This 2000 memory-clinic study tested the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE), a 100-point bedside test covering six areas of thinking, in 139 new patients and 127 age- and education-matched comparison people. Using 88 as the cut-off, the ACE picked up 93% of people with dementia; at a cut-off of 83 the authors report higher sensitivity and predictive value than the Mini-Mental State Examination, and a ratio of language-and-fluency scores to memory-and-orientation scores helped tell Alzheimer's disease apart from frontotemporal dementia. The abstract does not report specificity, and the study is about diagnosis, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants115
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 60/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2000 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 115 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,004 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 35.9 citations a year over 28 year(s) since 2000 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 37 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 116 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author John R. Hodges: h-index 107 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Cambridge: institution h-index 1,973 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11113213) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 60 / 100 | — |
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