Comparing the cognitive performance in patients with Parkinson's disease and healthy people

Although Parkinson’s disease is categorized under the category of movement disorders, cognitive problems are almost always associated with the disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive performance of PD patients with that of their healthy counterparts. The montreal cognitive assessment and a demographic questionnaire were administered to 35 PD patients who met the inclusionary criteria. 40 healthy subjects meeting all the inclusion criteria except having Parkinson’s disease were asked to complete the same scales. Correlation coefficient and the analysis of covariance were conducted to analyze the data using SPSS software, version 16. The results showed that the PD patients significantly scored lower than the healthy people in the subscales of visiospatial function, executive function, memory and attention (P < 0.05). Cognitive deficits are among the most common problems occurred in Parkinson’s disease and can be explained through the pathogenesis of the disease. Considering that these kinds of impairment can interfere with the diagnosis, course, prognosis of the disorder and its response to treatment, they must be taken into account when assessing patients.