Neuropsychiatric Score for Early Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment of Elderly Populations in The Community

Abstract

Background: The increase in the elderly population in a developing country like Indonesia will increase people with cognitive impairment. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is the most common cognitive impairment among the elderly. However, some health workers are not satisfied with the current tools for detecting MCI in the community.Objective: This study intends to develop a novel, easy, and accurate method for early detection of MCI of the elderly population in the community in Indonesia.Methods: This study analyzed the database of 110 elderly population in East Jakarta, Indonesia. We explored several brief neuropsychiatric battery and developed a neuropsychiatric score to detect MCI.Results: The abnormal verbal semantic fluency test (p = 0.000), the existence of subjective memory complaints (p = 0.007), and low education level (p = 0.049) were found to be good predictors to detect MCI. The neuropsychiatric score, a combination of those variables, with a cut-off point of 2, has good accuracy to detect MCI (Sensitivity = 91.20%; Specificity = 78.9%).Conclusion: The neuropsychiatric score is a novel, easy, and accurate method for early detection of MCI of the elderly population in the community in Indonesia.