Adaption of the Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment (PANDA) into Estonian

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by both motor and non-motor symptoms; the latter also include mood disorders and problems with cognitive functioning, the seriousness of which largely predicts later quality of life associated with the progression of the disease. In Estonia, there is currently no specific screening test to measure mild cognitive impairment associated with Parkinson’s disease (MCI-PD) but as the number of patients with PD increase (Kadastik-Eerme et al., 2018), there is a clear need for it. The Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment (abbreviated PANDA; Kalbe et al., 2008) is time-efficient, easy to administer and sensitive to MCI-PD and dementia. It has been developed to measure problems in cognitive functioning that are specific to PD and includes a short mood questionnaire. The aim of this study was to obtain an Estonian translation of the PANDA and its normative scores. The PANDA was translated using the translation/back-translation method. The Estonian sample comprised of 47 healthy participants (12 men and 35 women, average age 61.04, SD = 9.26) who were recruited using the chain sampling method. The MMSE, the BDI and the PANDA were administered, and the results were compared against the German data. The results show a significant correlation between the MMSE and the PANDA total score. The Estonian sample’s scores were found to be significantly higher than those of the original control group. Multiple factors may partially influence this outcome. Our results, unlike the original ones, show a significant effect of education on the PANDA total score, thus a proposition is made of adding one point to the total PANDA score of those without higher education. Future directions should entail collecting some more normative data and testing the PANDA on a clinical sample.