Aging and neurodegenerative diseases: Normative data of Mini Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (M-ACE) and a new version “M-ACE6” derived from the Mokken Scale Analysis

Dementia is an umbrella term encompassing neurodegenerative, progressive, and chronic diseases, characterized by a wide range of onsets, signs, and symptoms. The introduction of new diagnostic tools—or the adaptation of existing ones—addresses the need to update assessment methods for a population undergoing continuous cultural and social changes.This thesis aims to analyse the Italian normative data of the short version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-III (ACE-III), known as the Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (M-ACE), a screening test for global cognitive functioning that has already been validated in other countries. Finally, a new version of the test, named M-ACE6, is presented. It was developed using Mokken Scale Analysis (MSA) with the aim of adapting the tool to the Italian cultural context. The statistical analyses conducted (ROC curves, logistic regressions, non-parametric analyses) allowed for the exploration of the psychometric properties of the new instrument and its clinical applicability. The results suggest that the psychometric properties of both M-ACE and M-ACE6 may support the use of these two short tests in clinical practice.