Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of the Combination of Two Measures of Verbal Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease

BACKGROUND: Episodic memory impairment is the core feature of typical Alzheimer's disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of two commonly used verbal memory tests to detect mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease (MCI-AD) and to predict progression to Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD-d). METHODS: Prospective study of MCI patients in a tertiary memory disorder unit. Patients underwent an extensive neuropsychological battery including two tests of declarative verbal memory: The Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) and the word list learning task from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD-WL). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was obtained from all patients and MCI-AD was defined by means of the t-Tau/Aβ1-42 ratio. Logistic regression analyses tested whether the combination of FCSRT and CERAD-WL measures significantly improved the prediction of MCI-AD. Progression to AD-d was analyzed in a Cox regression model. RESULTS: A total of 202 MCI patients with a mean follow-up of 34.2±24.2 months were included and 98 (48.5%) met the criteria for MCI-AD. The combination of FCSRT and CERAD-WL measures improved MCI-AD classification accuracy based on CSF biomarkers. Both tests yielded similar global predictive values (59.9-65.3% and 59.4-62.8% for FCSRT and CERAD-WL, respectively). MCI-AD patients with deficits in both FCSRT and CERAD-WL had a faster progression to AD-d than patients with deficits in only one test. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of FCSRT and CERAD-WL improves the classification of MCI-AD and defines different prognostic profiles. These findings have important implications for clinical practice and the design of clinical trials.