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Diagnostic procedures for Parkinson's disease dementia: recommendations from the movement disorder society task force
Dubois B, Burn D, Goetz C, Aarsland D, Brown RG, Broe GA, Dickson D, Duyckaerts C et al.. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society, 2007-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
A preceding article described the clinical features of Parkinson's disease dementia (PD-D) and proposed clinical diagnostic criteria for "probable" and "possible" PD-D. The main focus of this article is to operationalize the diagnosis of PD-D and to propose practical guidelines based on a two level process depending upon the clinical scenario and the expertise of the evaluator involved in the assessment. Level I is aimed primarily at the clinician with no particular expertise in neuropsychological methods, but who requires a simple, pragmatic set of tests that are not excessively time-consuming. Level I can be used alone or in concert with Level II, which is more suitable when there is the need to specify the pattern and the severity on the dementia of PD-D for clinical monitoring, research studies or pharmacological trials. Level II tests can also be proposed when the diagnosis of PD-D remains uncertain or equivocal at the end of a Level I evaluation. Given the lack of evidence-based standards for some tests when applied in this clinical context, we have tried to make practical and unambiguous recommendations, based upon the available literature and the collective experience of the Task Force. We accept, however, that further validation of certain tests and modifications in the recommended cut off values will be required through future studies.
Key findings
- Level I is aimed primarily at the clinician with no particular expertise in neuropsychological methods, but who requires a simple, pragmatic set of tests that are not excessively time-consuming.
- Level I can be used alone or in concert with Level II, which is more suitable when there is the need to specify the pattern and the severity on the dementia of PD-D for clinical monitoring, research studies or pharmacological trials.
- Level II tests can also be proposed when the diagnosis of PD-D remains uncertain or equivocal at the end of a Level I evaluation.
- Given the lack of evidence-based standards for some tests when applied in this clinical context, we have tried to make practical and unambiguous recommendations, based upon the available literature and the collective experience of the Task Force.
- We accept, however, that further validation of certain tests and modifications in the recommended cut off values will be required through future studies.
Why it matters
This report offers practical guidelines for diagnosing dementia in Parkinson's disease using a two-level process, with Level I for general clinicians and Level II for more detailed assessment. The authors state that some tests lack evidence-based standards in this context and that further validation and changes to cutoff values will be needed in future studies.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 55/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Movement Disorders: journal h-index 281 (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 | 2007 — 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) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,084 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 51.6 citations a year over 21 year(s) since 2007 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 17.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 42 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 138 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Murat Emre: h-index 55 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Inserm: institution h-index 1,988 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 33 institution(s) in 12 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18098298) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 55 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Dubois, B., Burn, D., Goetz, C., Aarsland, D., Brown, R. G., Broe, G. A., et al. (2007). Diagnostic procedures for Parkinson's disease dementia: recommendations from the movement disorder society task force. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.21844
Vancouver
Dubois B, Burn D, Goetz C, Aarsland D, Brown RG, Broe GA, et al. Diagnostic procedures for Parkinson's disease dementia: recommendations from the movement disorder society task force. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. 2007. doi:10.1002/mds.21844. PMID: 18098298.
BibTeX
@article{dubois2007-18098298,
author = {Dubois, B. and Burn, D. and Goetz, C. and Aarsland, D. and Brown, R. G. and Broe, G. A. and Dickson, D. and Duyckaerts, C. and others},
title = {{Diagnostic procedures for Parkinson's disease dementia: recommendations from the movement disorder society task force}},
journal = {Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1002/mds.21844},
pmid = {18098298},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.21844}
}
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