MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN THE ELDERLY - RESULTS OF A GERONTOLOGICAL STUDY

The term,,mild cognitive impairment'' refers to cognitive deficits whi ch exceed normal physiological aging processes, but do not fulfill the criteria for dementia. The prevalence rates of four current concepts were compared in a sample of 202 healthy 60-64 year-old participants r ecruited from the interdisciplinary longitudinal study on adult develo pment and aging (ILSE). Furthermore, the relationships between cogniti ve deficits and psychological and sociodemographic variables were exam ined. The following prevalence rates were determined:13.5% for age-ass ociated memory impairment, 6.5% for age-consistent memory impairment, 1.5% for late-life forgetfulness and 23.5% for aging-associated cognit ive decline. Subjective cognitive complaints did not correlate with re sults obtained from neuropsychological tests. Significant correlations were however found between subjective cognitive complaints and higher scores on depression and neuroticism scales. Significant correlations were also found between a reduced test performance and a lower educat ional level and socioeconomic status. Longitudinal studies are warrant ed to further elucidate the predictive value of these diagnostic conce pts.