What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to examine the differences and correlations among clinical neuropsychological scales in populations with Normal Cognition, Subjective Cognitive Decline, and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

June 13, 2026Open Access

Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Inter-group Differences and Correlation Analysis of Clinical Neuropsychological Scales

Key Points

The research aims to examine the differences and correlations among clinical neuropsychological scales in populations with Normal Cognition, Subjective Cognitive Decline, and Mild Cognitive Impairment.
Conducted a cross-sectional study with 110 participants including NC, SCD, and MCI groups.
Utilized eight clinical neuropsychological scales and demographic indicators for assessment.
Employed one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests for inter-group differences and Pearson/Spearman correlations for scale relationships.
All clinical scale scores differed significantly across groups (p < 0.05).
MCI group was older than SCD and NC groups (p < 0.001).
Strong positive correlations were found between HAMD and HAMA (r = 0.81, p < 0.001) and MMSE and MOCA (r = 0.71, p < 0.001).

Abstract

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) progresses from normal cognition (NC), subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD dementia. SCD is crucial for primary AD prevention. However, single neuropsychological scales lack sensitivity for early SCD and MCI identification, and research on multi-scale assessment differences and correlations is limited. A cross-sectional study with 110 participants (18 NC, 53 SCD, 39 MCI) used eight clinical neuropsychological scales and demographic indicators. One-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests analyzed inter-group differences, Pearson or Spearman analysis investigated scale correlations, and boxplots and heatmaps visualized results. Baseline characteristics: The MCI group (64.05±8.42 years) was older than the SCD group (59.67±9.64 years, p = 0.021) and the NC group (44.33±17.77 years, p SCD > NC; cognitive scale scores (MMSE, MOCA) and dementia - related scale scores (AFT, BNT) were NC > SCD > MCI. Only the MCI group had a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score > 0 (mean = 0.5). Correlations: HAMD and HAMA had a strong positive correlation (r = 0.81, p < 0.001); MMSE and MOCA had a strong positive correlation (r = 0.71, p < 0.001); age was weakly negatively correlated with MMSE (r = - 0.31, p = 0.002) and MOCA (r = - 0.33, p = 0.001). Multi - domain neuropsychological scales can differentiate NC, SCD, and MCI populations. Scale correlations provide a quantitative basis for early cognitive impairment screening, and combining MOCA and AFT improves SCD identification sensitivity.

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