Mild cognitive impairment in primary care: a clinical review

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (1117) ◽  
pp. 647-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges Assaf ◽  
Maria Tanielian

Dementia is projected to become a global health priority but often not diagnosed in its earlier preclinical stage which is mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is generally referred as a transition state between normal cognition and Alzheimer’s disease. Primary care physicians play an important role in its early diagnosis and identification of patients most likely to progress to Alzheimer’s disease while offering evidenced-based interventions that may reverse or halt the progression to further cognitive impairment. The aim of this review is to introduce the concept of MCI in primary care through a case-based clinical review. We discuss the case of a patient with MCI and provide an evidence-based framework for assessment, early recognition and management of MCI while addressing associated risk factors, neuropsychiatric symptoms and prognosis.

Author(s):  
Karla Aketzalli Hernández-Contreras ◽  
Jorge Antonio Martínez-Díaz ◽  
María Elena Hernández-Aguilar ◽  
Deissy Herrera-Covarrubias ◽  
Fausto Rojas-Durán ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Siafarikas ◽  
G. Selbaek ◽  
T. Fladby ◽  
J. Šaltytė Benth ◽  
E. Auning ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground:Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), such as depression, apathy, agitation, and psychotic symptoms are common in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Subgroups of NPS have been reported. Yet the relationship of NPS and their subgroups to different stages of cognitive impairment is unclear. Most previous studies are based on small sample sizes and show conflicting results. We sought to examine the frequency of NPS and their subgroups in MCI and different stages of dementia in AD.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study using data from a Norwegian national registry of memory clinics. From a total sample of 4,571 patients, we included those with MCI or AD (MCI 817, mild AD 883, moderate–severe AD 441). To compare variables across groups ANOVA or χ2-test was applied. We used factor analysis of Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) items to identify subgroups of NPS.Results:The frequency of any NPS was 87.2% (AD 91.2%, MCI 79.5%; p < 0.001) and increased with increasing severity of cognitive decline. The most frequent NPS in MCI was depression. Apathy was the most frequent NPS in AD across different stages of severity. The factor analysis identified three subgroups in MCI and mild AD, and a fourth one in moderate–severe AD. We labelled the subgroups “depression,” “agitation,” “psychosis,” and “elation.”Conclusions:The frequency of NPS is high in MCI and AD and increases with the severity of cognitive decline. The subgroups of NPS were relatively consistent from MCI to moderate-severe AD. The subgroup elation appeared only in moderate-severe AD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Szabolcs Garbóczy ◽  
Éva Magócs ◽  
Gergő Szőllősi ◽  
Szilvia Harsányi ◽  
Égerházi Anikó ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a growing disease process with aging. If we could recognize the disease at an early stage and increase the number of years spent in a better condition through preventive and treatment measures, we could reduce the pressure both directly on families and indirectly on society. There is a need for testing methods that are easy to perform even in general practitioner’s office, inexpensive and non-invasive, which could help early recognition of mental decline. We have selected Test Your Memory (TYM), which has proven to be reliable for detecting AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in several countries. Our study was designed to test the usability of the TYM-HUN comparing with the ADAS-Cog (Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale) in MCI recognition in the Hungarian population. METHODS TYM test was translated and validated into Hungarian (TYM-HUN). The TYM-HUN test was used in conjunction with and compared with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the ADAS-Cog. For our study, 50 subjects were selected, 25 MCI patients and 25 healthy controls. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the scores of MMSE and ADAS-Cog with TYM-HUN. RESULTS MCI can be distinguished from AD and normal aging using ADAS-Cog and MMSE is a useful tool to detect dementia. We established a 'cut-off' point of TYM-HUN (44/45points) where optimal sensitivity and specificity values were obtained to screen MCI. The total TYM-HUN scores significantly correlated with the MMSE scores (ρ=0.626; p<0.001) and ADAS-Cog scores (ρ=-0.723; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our results showed that the Hungarian version of TYM (TYM-HUN) is an easy, fast, self-administered questionnaire with the right low threshold regarding MCI and can be used for the early diagnosis of cognitive impairment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wietse A. Wiels ◽  
Mandy M. J. Wittens ◽  
Dieter Zeeuws ◽  
Chris Baeken ◽  
Sebastiaan Engelborghs

Background: The interaction between neuropsychiatric symptoms, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia is complex and remains to be elucidated. An additive or multiplicative effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy or depression on cognitive decline has been suggested. Unraveling these interactions may allow the development of better prevention and treatment strategies. In the absence of available treatments for neurodegeneration, a timely and adequate identification of neuropsychiatric symptom changes in cognitive decline is highly relevant and can help identify treatment targets.Methods: An existing memory clinic-based research database of 476 individuals with MCI and 978 individuals with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) was reanalyzed. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were assessed in a prospective fashion using a battery of neuropsychiatric assessment scales: Middelheim Frontality Score, Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (Behave-AD), Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), and Geriatric Depression Scale (30 items). We subtyped subjects suffering from dementia as mild, moderate, or severe according to their Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and compared neuropsychiatric scores across these groups. A group of 126 subjects suffering from AD with a significant cerebrovascular component was examined separately as well. We compared the prevalence, nature, and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms between subgroups of patients with MCI and dementia due to AD in a cross-sectional analysis.Results: Affective and sleep-related symptoms are common in MCI and remain constant in prevalence and severity across dementia groups. Depressive symptoms as assessed by the CSDD further increase in severe dementia. Most other neuropsychiatric symptoms (such as agitation and activity disturbances) progress in parallel with severity of cognitive decline. There are no significant differences in neuropsychiatric symptoms when comparing “pure” AD to AD with a significant vascular component.Conclusion: Neuropsychiatric symptoms such as frontal lobe symptoms, psychosis, agitation, aggression, and activity disturbances increase as dementia progresses. Affective symptoms such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, however, are more frequent in MCI than mild dementia but otherwise remain stable throughout the cognitive spectrum, except for an increase in CSDD score in severe dementia. There is no difference in neuropsychiatric symptoms when comparing mixed dementia (defined here as AD + significant cerebrovascular disease) to pure AD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Szabolcs Garbóczy ◽  
Éva Magócs ◽  
Gergő Szőllősi ◽  
Szilvia Harsányi ◽  
Égerházi Anikó ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) often presages the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Accurate and early identification of cognitive impairment will substantially reduce the burden on the family and alleviate the costs for the whole society. There is a need for testing methods that are easy to perform even in a general practitioner’s office, inexpensive and non-invasive, which could help the early recognition of mental decline. We have selected Test Your Memory (TYM), which has proven to be reliable for detecting AD and MCI in several countries. Our study was designed to test the usability of the TYM-HUN comparing with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog) in MCI recognition in the Hungarian population.METHODS: TYM test was translated and validated into Hungarian (TYM-HUN) in a previous study. The TYM-HUN test was used in conjunction with and compared with the MMSE and the ADAS-Cog. For our study, 50 subjects were selected: 25 MCI patients and 25 healthy controls (HC). Spearman’s rank correlation was used to analyse the correlation between the scores of MMSE and ADAS-Cog with TYM-HUN.RESULTS: MCI can be distinguished from normal aging using TYM-HUN. We established a 'cut-off' point of TYM-HUN (44/45points) where optimal sensitivity (80%) and specificity (92%) values were obtained to screen MCI. The total TYM-HUN scores significantly correlated with the MMSE scores (ρ=0.626; p<0.001) and ADAS-Cog scores (ρ=-0.723; p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the Hungarian version of TYM (TYM-HUN) is a reliable, fast, self-administered questionnaire with the right low threshold regarding MCI and can be used for the early diagnosis of cognitive impairment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davneet Judge ◽  
Jenna Roberts ◽  
Rezaul Khandker ◽  
Baishali Ambegaonkar ◽  
Christopher M. Black

Prior studies have identified numerous barriers to the prompt diagnosis of patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The aim of the study was to evaluate physician’s perceptions of the importance of previously identified barriers to diagnosis, but with a specific focus on the presentation of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which may be indicative of neurodegenerative disorders such as AD. A second aim was to evaluate how the perspective of primary care physicians (PCPs) may differ from that of specialists. A cross-sectional online survey of PCPs and specialists who routinely manage patients with complaints of age-related cognitive impairment was conducted. Participants were asked to identify barriers to prompt diagnosis from prespecified lists of known diagnostic challenges categorized into 4 domains: patient-related, physician-related, setting-related, and those relating to the clinical profile of AD. Physicians report a range of barriers when attempting to diagnose MCI and AD. Major themes included patients seeing cognitive decline as a normal part of aging and not disclosing symptoms, long waiting lists, and a lack of treatment options and definitive biomarker tests. Generally, PCPs and specialists showed broad agreement; however, PCPs were more likely to identify burdens on the healthcare system, such as long waiting lists and inadequate time to evaluate patients. Substantial barriers continue to hinder early diagnosis of MCI and AD. There are numerous areas where improvements might be made but the implementation of potential interventions will likely be associated with financial strain for many healthcare systems.


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