Amnesia Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Amnesia, including details on memory loss, causes, treatment, brain injury,.

Prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in 60- to 64-year-old community-dwelling individuals: The Personality and Total Health through Life 60+ Study.

Kumar R, Dear KB, Christensen H, Ilschner S, Jorm AF, Meslin C, Rosenman SJ, Sachdev PS

Department of Psychological Medicine, The Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia. Rajeev.Kumar@act.gov.au

This epidemiological study aimed at determining the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 60- to 64-year-old individuals using different diagnostic criteria. Community dwelling individuals (n = 2,551) in the age range of 60-64 years were recruited randomly through the electoral roll. They were screened using the MMSE and a short cognitive battery, and those who screened positive underwent detailed medical and cognitive assessments. Extant MCI-related diagnoses were established by consensus. Predictive regression models on the sub-sample were used to determine population prevalence for the diagnoses. Of the 224 subjects who screened positive for MCI, 112 underwent a detailed assessment and 74% met the criteria for at least one recognised diagnosis of mild cognitive deficit (MCI and related diagnoses). By predictive regression modelling, the prevalence of any MCI diagnosis was 13.7% (95% CI 9.1-30.2) in the population of 60- to 64-year-olds. The estimated prevalence rates for specific diagnoses were: MCI 3.7%, ageing-associated cognitive decline 3.1%, Clinical Dementia Rating score (0.5) 2.8%, age-associated memory impairment 1%, other cognitive disorders 0.9%, and mild neurocognitive disorder 0.6%. Agreement on 'caseness' between various proposed diagnoses was at best fair and generally poor. Memory and other cognitive problems not meeting the threshold for dementia are relatively common in 60- to 64-year-old individuals living in the community. The prevalence rate varies up to six-fold according to the diagnostic criteria applied, with limited overlap between diagnoses. There is an urgent need for standardization of the criteria.

Published 15 February 2005 in Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord, 19(2): 67-74.
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