Impaired medical decision-making appears to be a prevalent feature of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and impairments in specific cognitive domains may negatively affect the ability of this cohort to make sound medical decisions. This according to a recent study that compared the medical decision-making capacity of patients with PSP to groups of patients with other neurodegenerative disorders. Researchers also investigated the cognitive correlates of medical decision-making in the PSP sample. The cohort consisted of 65 participants that belonged to 5 study groups: 13 with PSP, 13 with Parkinson disease-mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), 13 with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), 13 with Alzheimer disease (AD), and 13 cognitively healthy controls. A neuropsychological battery, including a performance-based measure of medical decision-making capacity, was administered to all study participants. They found:

• >80% of the PSP group exhibited impairment in some aspect of medical decision-making and rates of impairment in PSP were similar to PDD.
• A number of cognitive abilities contributed to medical decision-making impairment in the PSP group, with executive function and attention being primary contributors.
• Medical decision-making was not associated with either disease duration or severity.