Prevalence and risk factors of mild cognitive impairment in a tertiary care setting in Turkey

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage between healthy cognition and dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease. There is limited information on the prevalence of MCI among older Turkish adults. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of MCI in Turkey.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with community-dwelling older people who were admitted to a tertiary geriatric outpatient clinic. Information on demographics and clinical variables was obtained. We used a neuropsychological battery to assess the cognitive domains in each subject. Participants who fell below 1.5 standard deviations on 1 or more of the 5 cognitive tests were considered MCI and were classified as either single domain MCI and multiple domain MCI. Risk factors were determined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

A total of 259 participants were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 74.0 years (SD 7.1 years), 54% were women, and 48.3% had a low level of education (≤ 5 years). The overall prevalence of MCI was 52.1%, with 27.8% for single domain MCI and 24.3% for multiple domain MCI. The prevalence of MCI increased with age: 16.4% aged 65-74 years, 32.0% aged 75-84 years, and 40.9% ≥ 85 years. Advanced age and low educational level were risk factors for both single domain MCI (OR = 1.07; 95% CI: 1.02-1.13; p = 0.003 and OR = 3.18; 95% CI:1.7-6.1; p < 0.001) and multiple domain MCI (OR = 1.1; 95% CI:1.1-1.2; p < 0.001 and adjusted OR = 11.9; 95% CI:5.1-27.8; p < 0.001).

MCI was common in older Turkish people admitted to a tertiary hospital, especially in those with advanced age and low educational level.