Stability of MCI and Dementia Diagnoses in Psychiatric Groups

 


   Note: An Official Proposal has not been Submitted to NACC.


   Lead Investigator:    Sara Becker
   Institution      :    University of Calgary
   E-Mail           :    sara.becker@ucalgary.ca
   Proposal ID      :    1724



   Proposal Description:
   Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a transitional state between healthy aging and dementia. It is a very heterogeneous concept: not all individuals with MCI will convert to dementia as many remain stable or even revert to a state of normal cognition (Overton et al., 2019). Studies examining the stability of the MCI construct in the general adult/geriatric population have mainly focused on identifying factors (e.g., demographics, biomarkers, and cognition) that contribute to stability or predict reversion to normal cognition. The literature shows that prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms not only increases risk for dementia but may contribute to the instability of an MCI diagnosis (Sugarman et al., 2018 Tori et al., 2008). To date, however, very few studies have examined the stability of MCI and dementia diagnoses specifically in psychiatric populations. This is an important oversight as many psychiatric conditions may precede development of dementia as well as complicate the disease course as specific clinical features may overlap (Onyike et al., 2016).    Our specific aims are to: 1) quantify the frequency of MCI and dementia diagnosis switching in psychiatric patient groups (depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder) compared to healthy adults, as well as the direction of switching, 2) examine the duration and stability of MCI and dementia diagnoses as well as the progression of diagnoses (is there a logical decline or a stability of diagnosis), and 3) determine whether there is a specific patient profile that is more prone to frequent diagnosis switching (across all patients or in specific psychiatric groups).