Table 1.
Characteristics of participants by group
| Group | Controls | AD | bvFTD | nfvPPA | svPPA | CBS | PSP | All groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | 24 | 21 | 33 | 23 | 30 | 22 | 25 | 178 |
| Sex (% female) | 54.2 | 47.6 | 39.4 | 56.5 | 33.3 | 63.6 | 48 | 47.8 |
| Handedness (% right) | 95.8 | 85.7 | 87.9 | 95.7 | 96.7 | 90.9 | 72 | 89.3 |
| Age | 63.63 (10.56) | 60.43 (9.40) | 59.91 (8.76) | 68.3 (7.28) | 63.13 (5.84) | 66.91 (6.89) | 68.04 (6.38) | 64.11 (8.50) |
| Years of education | 17.08 (2.02) | 16.43 (3.52) | 15.52 (3.21) | 16.61 (3.84) | 16.37 (2.82) | 14.86 (4.31) | 17.04 (3.34) | 16.25 (3.34) |
| CDR-box | 0.02 (0.10) | 4.55 (1.67) | 7.21 (2.81) | 1.72 (1.55) | 3.75 (2.157) | 3.21 (2.05) | 5.00 (2.704) | 3.83 (3.05) |
| MMSE | 29.55 (0.60) | 21.68 (5.31) | 25.03 (4.26) | 25.38 (5.65) | 25.13 (3.62) | 24.00 (5.39) | 26.63 (3.44) | 25.42 (4.67) |
| Emotion labeling | 10.17 (0.82) | 8.14 (2.30) | 7.58 (3.12) | 8.22 (2.80) | 6.57 (2.13) | 8.50 (2.20) | 8.72 (2.03) | 8.18 (2.53) |
| Dynamic tracking | 0.84 (0.08) | 0.41 (0.36) | 0.36 (0.33) | 0.58 (0.31) | 0.60 (0.35) | 0.64 (0.27) | 0.47 (0.31) | 0.55 (0.32) |
| 1.5 T MRI | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 108 |
| 3 T MRI | 17 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 15 | 14 | 10 |
| 4 T MRI | 3 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 29 |
Diagnostic groups differed significantly in age, F(6,171) = 4.87, P < 0.001, η2 = 0.14, levels of cognitive impairment (MMSE), F(6,159) = 6.63, P < 0.001, η2 = 0.20 and dementia severity (CDR-box), F(6,169) = 32.85, P < 0.001, η2 = 0.54.
Bonferroni corrected post-hoc comparisons of age differences suggest patients with bvFTD were significantly younger than patients with nfvPPA (Mdiff = 8.4, SE = 2.17, P = 0.003), PSP (Mdiff = 8.13, SE = 2.12, P = 0.004) and CBS (Mdiff = 7.00, SE = 2.20, P = 0.036). Patients with AD were significantly younger than patients with nfvPPA (Mdiff = 7.88, SE = 2.41, P = 0.028) and PSP (Mdiff = 7.61, SE = 2.36, P = 0.032).
Bonferroni corrected post-hoc comparisons of MMSE scores suggest patients with bvFTD (Mdiff = 4.51, SE = 1.19, P = 0.004), svPPA (Mdiff = 4.41, SE = 1.19, P = 0.006), nfvPPA (Mdiff = 4.17, SE = 1.30, P = 0.034), AD (Mdiff = 7.86, SE = 1.33, P < 0.001), and CBS (Mdiff = 5.54, SE = 1.33, P = 0.001) had greater cognitive impairment compared to controls. Patients with AD had significantly greater cognitive impairment than patients with PSP (Mdiff = 4.94, SE = 1.31, P = 0.005).
Bonferroni corrected post-hoc comparisons of CDR-box scores suggest patients with bvFTD (Mdiff = 7.19, SE = 0.57, P < 0.001), svPPA (Mdiff = 3.72, SE = 0.57, P < 0.001), PSP (Mdiff = 4.97, SE = 0.60, P < 0.001), AD (Mdiff = 4.53, SE = 0.63, P < 0.001) and CBS (Mdiff = 4.98, SE = 0.63, P < 0.001) had greater dementia severity scores than controls. Patients with bvFTD had significantly greater dementia severity compared to patients with svPPA (Mdiff = 3.46, SE = 0.53, P < 0.001), nfvPPA (Mdiff = 5.47, SE = 0.57, P < 0.001), PSP (Mdiff = 2.21, SE = 0.56, P = 0.002), AD (Mdiff = 2.66, SE = 0.60, P < 0.001) and CBS (Mdiff = 3.99, SE = 0.59, P < 0.0001). Patients with nfvPPA had significantly lower dementia severity compared to patients with PSP (Mdiff = 23.26, SE = 0.61, P < 0.001), svPPA (Mdiff = 2.01, SE = 0.58, P = 0.016), AD (Mdiff = 2.81, SE = 0.65, P < 0.001).