Home › Research › How common it is
Mild cognitive impairment, amnestic type: an epidemiologic study
Ganguli M, Dodge HH, Shen C, DeKosky ST.. Neurology, 2004-07-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To estimate the prevalence and examine the course of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), amnestic type, using current criteria, within a representative community sample. Methods Retroactive application of MCI criteria to data collected during a prospective epidemiologic study was performed. The subjects were drawn from voter registration lists, composing a cohort of 1,248 individuals with mean age of 74.6 (5.3) years, who were nondemented at entry and who were assessed biennially over 10 years of follow-up. The Petersen amnestic MCI criteria were operationalized as 1) impaired memory: Word List Delayed Recall score of Results At the five assessments, amnestic MCI criteria were met by 2.9 to 4.0% of the cohort. Of 40 persons with MCI at the first assessment, 11 (27%) developed dementia over the next 10 years. Over each 2-year interval, MCI persons showed increased risk of dementing (odds ratio = 3.9, 95% CI = 2.1 to 7.2); 11.1 to 16.7% progressed to Alzheimer disease and 0 to 5.0% progressed to other dementias. Over the same intervals, 11.1 to 21.2% of those with MCI remained MCI; of 33.3 to 55.6% who no longer had MCI, half had reverted to normal. Conclusions In this community-based sample, 3 to 4% of nondemented persons met MCI operational criteria; despite increased risk of progressing to dementia, a substantial proportion also remained stable or reverted to normal during follow-up. Amnestic MCI as currently defined is a high-risk but unstable and heterogeneous group.
Key findings
- The Petersen amnestic MCI criteria were operationalized as 1) impaired memory: Word List Delayed Recall score of Results At the five assessments, amnestic MCI criteria were met by 2.9 to 4.0% of the cohort.
- Over each 2-year interval, MCI persons showed increased risk of dementing (odds ratio = 3.9, 95% CI = 2.1 to 7.2); 11.1 to 16.7% progressed to Alzheimer disease and 0 to 5.0% progressed to other dementias.
- Conclusions In this community-based sample, 3 to 4% of nondemented persons met MCI operational criteria; despite increased risk of progressing to dementia, a substantial proportion also remained stable or reverted to normal during follow-up.
Why it matters
In this community sample, 3 to 4% of people without dementia met criteria for amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and while they were at higher risk of progressing to dementia, many stayed stable or returned to normal. This describes the course of a memory problem over time and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Alzheimer's in numbers →
Study details
- Participants1,248
- Effect size4.0%; 16.7%; 5.0%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2004 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,248 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 676 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 28.2 citations a year over 24 year(s) since 2004 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 23.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 70 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 41 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Steven T. DeKosky: h-index 132 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Pittsburgh: institution h-index 1,470 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15249620) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ganguli, M., Dodge, H. H., Shen, C., & DeKosky, S. T. (2004). Mild cognitive impairment, amnestic type: an epidemiologic study. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000132523.27540.81
Vancouver
Ganguli M, Dodge HH, Shen C, DeKosky ST. Mild cognitive impairment, amnestic type: an epidemiologic study. Neurology. 2004. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000132523.27540.81. PMID: 15249620.
BibTeX
@article{ganguli2004-15249620,
author = {Ganguli, M. and Dodge, H. H. and Shen, C. and DeKosky, S. T.},
title = {{Mild cognitive impairment, amnestic type: an epidemiologic study}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000132523.27540.81},
pmid = {15249620},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000132523.27540.81}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 22.
Later studies that cite this one
70 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.