The Global Cognition, Frontal Lobe Dysfunction and Behavior Changes in Chinese Patients with Multiple System Atrophy

Background Studies on cognition in multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients are limited. Methods A total of 110 MSA patients were evaluated using Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Frontal Behavioral Inventory (FBI), and Unified MSA Rating Scale (UMSARS) tests. Fifty-five age-, sex-, education- and domicile-matched healthy controls were recruited to perform the FAB and ACE-R scales. Results Approximately 32.7% of the patients had global cognitive deficits with the most impaired domain being verbal fluency and visuospatial ability (26.4%), followed by memory (24.5%), language (20%) and orientation/attention (20%) based on a cut-off score of ACE-R ≤ 70. A total of 41.6% of the patients had frontal lobe dysfunction, with inhibitory control (60.9%) as the most impaired domain based on a cut-off score of FAB ≤14. Most patients (57.2%) showed moderate frontal behavior changes (FBI score 4–15), with incontinence (64.5%) as the most impaired domain. The binary logistic regression model revealed that an education level < 9 years (OR:13.312, 95% CI:2.931–60.469, P = 0.001) and UMSARS ≥ 40 (OR: 2.444, 95%CI: 1.002–5.962, P< 0.049) were potential determinants of abnormal ACE-R, while MSA-C (OR: 4.326, 95%CI: 1.631–11.477, P = 0.003), an education level < 9 years (OR:2.809 95% CI:1.060–7.444, P = 0.038) and UMSARS ≥ 40 (OR:5.396, 95%CI: 2.103–13.846, P < 0.0001) were potential determinants of abnormal FAB. Conclusions Cognitive impairment is common in Chinese MSA patients. MSA-C patients with low education levels and severe motor symptoms are likely to experience frontal lobe dysfunction, while MSA patients with low education levels and severe motor symptoms are likely to experience global cognitive deficits. These findings strongly suggest that cognitive impairment should not be an exclusion criterion for the diagnosis of MSA.