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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

A Machine Learning Approach to Design an Efficient Selective Screening of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: January 11, 2020
Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in chinese older persons with mild cognitive impairment-a population-based
Wai-Chi Chan1, Linda Chiu-Wa Lam, Cindy Woon-Chi Tam
1Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Castle Peak Hospital, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong SAR.
Objectives:
To estimate the point prevalence and correlates of neuropsychiatric (NP) symptoms among older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normal cognition (NC) in a Chinese community.
Design:
Cross-sectional study derived from a population-based prevalence study of MCI and dementia.
Setting And Participants:
This survey was conducted in Hong Kong from 2005 to 2006. Seven hundred eighty-eight community-dwelling older adults (450 NC and 338 MCI) were recruited. Cognitive and NP data were obtained.
Results:
The point prevalence of at least one NP symptom in NC and MCI were 29% and 36.7%, respectively (logistic regression controlled for age and education, odds ratio = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.89, Wald χ = 4.10, df = 1, p = 0.04). Agitation (1.8% versus 5.1%), apathy (7.6% versus 15.2%), and irritability (4.2% versus 8%) were more prevalent in subjects with MCI (p <0.05). Logistic regression analyses showed that apathy score was a significant factor associated with the status of NC or MCI (logistic regression, apathy, p = 0.031, Exp(B) = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.02-1.47; Hosmer and Lemeshow test, χ = 8.6, df = 8, p = 0.38, R = 0.23).
Conclusions:
The authors reported the findings of one of the first population-based studies estimating the point prevalence of NP symptoms in Asian older adults with MCI. Taking into account of its prevalence and magnitude of effects, apathy is a clinically significant symptom in MCI. Its predictive value for conversion to dementia warrants further evaluation.
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