Sensitivity and specificity of FTDC criteria for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Jennifer M Harris, Claire Gall, Jennifer C Thompson, Anna M T Richardson, David Neary, Daniel du Plessis, Piyali Pal, David M A Mann, Julie S Snowden, Matthew Jones

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess sensitivity and specificity of the updated criteria for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) based on a large autopsy-confirmed cohort of patients with dementia. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-nine consecutive pathologically confirmed dementia patients, clinically assessed in a specialist cognitive unit were identified. Patients with predominant aphasia, motor disorders, or insufficient clinical information were excluded. Frontotemporal Dementia Consensus criteria were applied to anonymized clinical data taken from patients' initial assessment by raters who were blinded to clinical and pathologic diagnosis. RESULTS: The final study cohort comprised 156 patients with predominantly early-onset dementia. The updated criteria for possible bvFTD had a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 82%. Probable bvFTD criteria had a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 95%. False positives were predominantly patients with presenile Alzheimer disease. CONCLUSION: Revised diagnostic criteria show encouragingly high sensitivity and specificity when applied to patients with early-onset dementia. They therefore provide a useful tool both for specialist researchers and general clinicians. There is a need for further prospective studies of sensitivity and specificity involving a broader spectrum of patients with dementia.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1881-1887
    Number of pages6
    JournalNeurology
    Volume80
    Issue number20
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2013

    Keywords

    • Aged
    • Cohort Studies
    • Female
    • Frontotemporal Dementia/classification/*diagnosis/*epidemiology
    • Humans
    • Male
    • Mental Disorders/classification/*diagnosis/*epidemiology
    • Middle Aged
    • Pilot Projects
    • *Sensitivity and Specificity

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Sensitivity and specificity of FTDC criteria for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this