Key Points
- To identify the clinical features of community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairment and determine the risk factors that drive progression to dementia.
- Conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments of community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
- Evaluated cognitive domains, attention, executive function, Clinical Dementia Rating, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, lifestyle, internal diseases, and psychosocial interventions.
- Initial impairments were localized to attention and executive function rather than general cognition, with baseline MRI profiles resembling healthy octogenarians.
- Progression toward cognitive deficit occurred more frequently when Clinical Dementia Rating was 0.5 in non-memory domains, whereas lifestyle, systemic diseases, and psychosocial interventions showed no detectable effect.
- Conversion to Alzheimer's disease involved generalized cognitive impairment and global brain atrophy, while vascular dementia progression was linked to frontal lobe dysfunction, frontotemporal atrophy, white matter changes, and cerebral infarction.
Structured PICO
PPopulationAged patients with mild cognitive impairment in a local community
OOutcomeProgression to cognitive deficit
In aged patients with mild cognitive impairment, secondary prevention using clinical dementia rating, psychological testing, and MRI is recommended over excessive dependence on primary prevention.