CAMCOG - Valores das subescalas em idosos normais com níveis diferentes de escolaridade - Aspectos preliminares CAMCOG - Subscales values in normal elderly with different educational levels - Preliminary aspects

Introduction: The Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG) is a brief tool for cognitive assessment. It is composed of subsca- les that represent various cognitive domains (orientation, langua- ge, memory, attention, praxis, perception, calculation and abstract thinking). Appropriate total scores permit to define impairment in the dementia level. However, such total scores do not always represent the real performance of the subject as it is possible to obtain low sco - res in certain domain(s) yet maintaining a total score in the normal range. Objective: To obtain data of CAMCOG total and subscales scores of normal elderly subjects with different educational levels. The growing interest in defining pre-dementia stages is an important reason of the present study. Methods: Community living normal el - derly, divided in three groups according to their education level were assessed with CAMCOG. Statistic analysis was performed to compa- re significance of the scores (total and subscales) among the groups. Results: Total CAMCOG mean values increased with education, and the same was observed in relation to the subscales scores. Conclu- sion: CAMCOG subscales related to education levels are necessary to identify subjects who present decreased values on one or more cognitive domain despite total scores within normal range, which may characterize a pre-dementia cognitive impairment state.