On 7 January, an international team of scientists from Greece, Cyprus and New York published an article on the prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in the journal Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. MCI refers to a state in which people experience cognitive impairment(s) but can still carry out activities of daily living. To date, there exist only a small number of large population-based studies that investigate how common (prevalent) this condition is.
In order to estimate the prevalence rates of MCI in people aged 65 and over, the researchers randomly selected 1960 individuals who participated in the Hellenic Epidemiological Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD) study. The participants of this study all underwent a comprehensive neurological as well as neuropsychological assessment. The diagnosis of MCI was based on the Petersen criteria. After standardising their sample for age and sex, the team found that 13.11% of the population had MCI. Concluding, the scientists underlined that their results indicated that MCI prevalence in the elderly population in Greece is on par with previously reported rates. The researchers also highlighted that there is a great need for prospective studies that use a robust methodology in order to improve our understanding of the dementia continuum.
