Onset of dyspraxia in aging persons with Down syndrome: Longitudinal studies

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Abstract
The slow and insidious development of progressive dyspraxia is recognised as an early symptom of Alzheimer disease (AD) among aging persons from the general population. However, very little is known about the age of onset and development of these AD-associated movement-related disorders among aging persons with Down syndrome (DS). This report provides a brief description of the development and standardisation of a 62-item dyspraxia scale adapted for adults with Down syndrome. It also provides a progress report utilising the scale in a 3.5-year longitudinal study designed to test the hypothesis that older individuals with DS would provide evidence for the onset and progression of dyspraxia when compared with younger adults with DS. Persons with Down syndrome who were 40 years of age and older at the start showed statistically significant deterioration on some of the dyspraxia measures suggestive of “preclinical” signs of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). An old group, with normal dyspraxia scores at a mean age of 54.1 years, showed deterioration which began about 3.5 years later. The scores of a group between 40–49 years of age were indistinguishable from persons 39 years of age and younger. The results suggest that the onset of one of the early symptoms of DAT can be identified at an average age of 57.9 years among persons with DS using the dyspraxia scale developed for this purpose.