CIND and MCI in the Italian elderly

Abstract

Both cognitive impairment, no dementia and mild cognitive impairment are frequent in the Italian elderly (2,955,000 prevalent cases expected) and significantly predict progression to dementia. Individuation of subgroups with different risk factors and transition rates to dementia is required to plan early and cost-effective interventions.

Spectrum of cognition short of dementia

“…MCI occupies a central location in the spectrum of cognitive aging, and its use as a diagnostic term has been criticized because of the heterogeneity of its prognosis. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] There are many reasons for the wide range of dementia risk in persons designated as MCI, but perhaps the most important one is that cognitive functioning that falls between the designations of "typical cognitive aging" and "definitely demented" is remarkably diverse. Changes in memory, attention, executive, language, and visuospatial domains, as well as the magnitude of those changes, have distinct implications for prognosis.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]14,18,25 We eliminated 2 other common sources of variation in MCI outcomes 26 by utilizing elderly cohorts that had been recruited randomly from defined geographical regions. We assert that the breadth and depth of low cognitive performance across different neuropsychologically defined domains ordered the risk for future dementia in a rational and biologically meaningful way.…”

Secular changes in cognitive predictors of dementia and mortality in 70-year-olds

“…Mild cognitive impairment is common in the elderly, and is associated with increased risk of dementia [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and death. [8][9][10][11][12] During the 20th century, later-born cohorts performed better on cognitive tests than earlier-born cohorts.…”

Mild cognitive impairment: A comprehensive review

“…Available evidence indicates that the prevalence of MCI ranges from 7.7% to 42.0% depending on the age groups under consideration, the country where the study was conducted, and the diagnostic criteria used to make the diagnosis [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] (Table 1). The data from these studies indicate that MCI commonly occurs in older adults across different cultures, races, and ethnicities.…”