Progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia: a 3-year longitudinal study

Henry Brodaty; Michael H Connors; David Ames; Michael Woodward; PRIME study group

doi:10.1177/0004867414536237

Progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia: a 3-year longitudinal study

Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2014 Dec;48(12):1137-42. doi: 10.1177/0004867414536237. Epub 2014 May 22.

Authors

Henry Brodaty¹, Michael H Connors², David Ames³, Michael Woodward⁴; PRIME study group

Affiliations

¹ Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia h.brodaty@unsw.edu.au.
² Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³ National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia University of Melbourne Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Australia.

PMID: 24852322
DOI: 10.1177/0004867414536237

Abstract

Objective: To examine characteristics that predict the progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.

Methods: Of 970 patients recruited from nine memory clinics around Australia, 185 had mild cognitive impairment diagnosed. Measures of cognitive ability, functional ability, and neuropsychiatric symptoms were completed at baseline and over 3 years of follow up.

Results: Over 3 years, 52 (28%) patients with mild cognitive impairment developed dementia. Older age, lower cognitive ability at baseline, and faster decline in cognitive ability over the first 6 months of follow up, but not depression, predicted progression to dementia.

Conclusions: The findings confirm that simple clinical data such as age, cognitive ability at baseline, and rate of cognitive decline are important predictors of progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia over 3 years.

Keywords: Dementia; depression; longitudinal studies; mild cognitive impairment; risk factors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnosis*
Dementia / diagnosis*
Disease Progression
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Severity of Illness Index