Abstract

Background: It remains an open issue in old age psychiatry whether or not persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at increased risk for developing a dementia syndrome, and if so, to what extent and under what circumstances. The purpose of the present study was to examine a population of older patients 5 years after a diagnosis of MCI.
Material/Methods: From an initial group of 158 older patients from our clinic who had been tested neuropsychologically and diagnosed with MCI between 1994 and 1996, and who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 52 were available for follow-up five years later.
Results: Of the 52 subjects we successfully recruited, 12 had developed dementia within the five-year follow-up period, including 8 with DAT, 3 with mixed dementia, and 1 with vascular dementia. The rate of cognitive decline is a good predictor of later dementia.
Conclusions: Patients with MCI are at some risk of developing a dementia syndrome, most commonly DAT. Evaluating both the cognitive and neuropsychological functioning of individuals affected with MCI, as well as their global functioning, can be useful in terms of predicting the clinical outcome in these patients.

Keywords: Cognition Disorders - therapy, Behavior