- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- 8.1 The biology of ageing
- 8.2 Sociology of normal ageing
- 8.3 The ageing population and the epidemiology of mental disorders among the elderly
- 8.4 Assessment of mental disorder in older patients
- 8.5 Special features of clinical syndromes in the elderly
- 8.5.1 Delirium in the elderly
- 8.5.1.1 Mild cognitive impairment
- 8.5.2 Substance use disorders in older people
- 8.5.3 Schizophrenia and paranoid disorders in late life
- 8.5.4 Mood disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.5 Stress-related, anxiety, and obsessional disorders in elderly people
- 8.5.6 Personality disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.7 Suicide and deliberate self-harm in elderly people
- 8.5.8 Sex in old age
- 8.6 Special features of psychiatric treatment for the elderly
- 8.7 The planning and organization of services for older adults
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Mild cognitive impairment
- Chapter:
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Author(s):
Claudia Jacova
and Howard H. Feldman
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0198
Within the cognitive functioning continuum from normal ageing to dementia three broad states can be distinguished: normal functioning for age, clear-cut impairment meeting diagnostic criteria for dementia, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which falls below normal but short of dementia in severity (Fig. 8.5.1.1.1). There is active debate over what MCI is, how to define and classify this state, and where to set its borders on the described continuum. Some definitions depict MCI as the tail-end of normal cognitive ageing whereas in other definitions MCI embodies the early clinical manifestation of Alzheimer Disease (AD) and other dementias. In 2003, the key elements of different MCI definitions were integrated into a consensus diagnostic and classification framework, thus establishing some common ground in a field that is still evolving. MCI has also been positioned as a potentially important target for early treatment interventions to delay progression to dementia. Nosologically, MCI is not currently included as a diagnostic entity in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. The diagnostic categories of Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (DSM-IV-TR) and Mild Cognitive Disorder (ICD-10) are similar to MCI because they require the presence of cognitive impairment but these categories can only be assigned if a specific neurological or general medical condition can be identified to account for the cognitive symptoms. Much of the current condition of MCI does not fit as it has no aetiologic specification. Nevertheless, MCI is increasingly a presenting condition in primary and specialized settings of care. Medical practice guidelines have recognized MCI as a risk state for dementia and recommend careful clinical evaluation and monitoring of individuals with this diagnosis.
Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- 8.1 The biology of ageing
- 8.2 Sociology of normal ageing
- 8.3 The ageing population and the epidemiology of mental disorders among the elderly
- 8.4 Assessment of mental disorder in older patients
- 8.5 Special features of clinical syndromes in the elderly
- 8.5.1 Delirium in the elderly
- 8.5.1.1 Mild cognitive impairment
- 8.5.2 Substance use disorders in older people
- 8.5.3 Schizophrenia and paranoid disorders in late life
- 8.5.4 Mood disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.5 Stress-related, anxiety, and obsessional disorders in elderly people
- 8.5.6 Personality disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.7 Suicide and deliberate self-harm in elderly people
- 8.5.8 Sex in old age
- 8.6 Special features of psychiatric treatment for the elderly
- 8.7 The planning and organization of services for older adults
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry