This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

54/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 54 out of 100. Getting a diagnosis

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

Dementia is one of the most common and important aspects of Parkinson's disease and has consequences for patients and caregivers, and has health-related costs. Mild cognitive impairment is also common and frequently progresses to dementia. The underlying mechanisms of dementia associated with Parkinson's disease are only partly known and no mechanism-based treatments are available. Both dysmetabolism of α-synuclein and amyloid-protein and cholinergic deficits contribute to cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease, and preliminary findings show that imaging and neurophysiological and peripheral biomarkers could be useful in diagnosis and prognosis. Rivastigmine is the only licensed treatment for dementia in Parkinson's disease, but emerging evidence suggests that memantine might also be useful. Whether these or other treatments can delay the progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia in Parkinson's disease is a key research question.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

This is a narrative review. This review states that the mechanisms of dementia in Parkinson's disease are only partly known and no mechanism-based treatments are available, with rivastigmine the only licensed treatment. It concerns Parkinson's disease dementia, not the treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Svenningsson, P., Westman, E., Ballard, C., & Aarsland, D. (2012). Cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease: diagnosis, biomarkers, and treatment. The Lancet. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70152-7

Vancouver

Svenningsson P, Westman E, Ballard C, Aarsland D. Cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease: diagnosis, biomarkers, and treatment. The Lancet. Neurology. 2012. doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70152-7. PMID: 22814541.

BibTeX

@article{svenningsson2012-22814541,
  author  = {Svenningsson, P. and Westman, E. and Ballard, C. and Aarsland, D.},
  title   = {{Cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease: diagnosis, biomarkers, and treatment}},
  journal = {The Lancet. Neurology},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70152-7},
  pmid    = {22814541},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70152-7}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a narrative review. It summarises a field without a fixed search method, so it shows how authors read the evidence rather than measuring it. Use it to find the primary studies, not as a result in itself.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

The underlying mechanisms of dementia associated with Parkinson's disease are only partly known and no mechanism-based treatments are available.
Rivastigmine is the only licensed treatment for dementia in Parkinson's disease, but emerging evidence suggests that memantine might also be useful.

Why it matters

This review states that the mechanisms of dementia in Parkinson's disease are only partly known and no mechanism-based treatments are available, with rivastigmine the only licensed treatment. It concerns Parkinson's disease dementia, not the treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Getting a diagnosis →

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 54/100

Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Lancet. Neurology)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	The Lancet Neurology: journal h-index 457 (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	2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 499 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	31.2 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012
Impact for its field and year	5 / 6	Cited 21.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 17 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 61 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Dag Aarsland: h-index 141 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 3 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22814541)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	54 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 32.

Later studies that cite this one

17 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.

Related studies in Getting a diagnosis from nearby years

Also tagged “lewy”

1,017 studies in the library carry the topic tag “lewy”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,017 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Getting a diagnosis

See all studies in Getting a diagnosis →