Development of informant-reported or self-reported MCI-J questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Psychiatry
• Neurology
• Cognitive Health

Background:

• Delayed diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia is common.
• This delay increases patient and caregiver burden and postpones treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel questionnaire for non-professionals to identify early indicators of MCI and dementia.
• To create a tool that aids in the early detection of cognitive decline.

Main Methods:

• A four-step development process involving a working group and 67 geriatric psychiatry specialists.
• A scoring algorithm was created and validated using misdiscrimination rate and cross-validation.
• Item selection and cut-off value establishment for MCI or dementia symptoms.

Main Results:

• The questionnaire demonstrated high sensitivity (90.6%) and specificity (56.6%) for detecting MCI or dementia symptoms.
• An 82% concordance rate was observed between questionnaire results and definitive diagnoses.
• A cut-off score of 2 was established for patient or informant respondents.

Conclusions:

• The developed questionnaire can facilitate earlier patient presentation for medical evaluation and treatment.
• Its high sensitivity highlights its potential as a screening tool for cognitive impairment.
• The tool is intended for screening and should be complemented by professional medical assessment for definitive diagnosis.