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Mild cognitive impairment in the general population: occurrence and progression to Alzheimer disease
Palmer K, Bäckman L, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L.. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2008-07-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objectives Our aims were to 1) detect the occurrence of three mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes in the general population; 2) identify cases of cognitive impairment which are not detected by current operational criteria for MCI and; 3) determine the predictive value of the subtypes for identifying future Alzheimer disease (AD). Design Three-year prospective study. Setting Population-based Swedish study, the Kungsholmen Project. Participants Three hundred seventy-nine nondemented older adults aged 75-95. Measurements Standard plus modified MCI criteria were applied at baseline. In the modified definitions, the requirement for normal general cognition was removed. A category for persons without MCI who had only global cognitive deficits was added. Three-year progression to AD was assessed (DSM-III-R criteria). Results Occurrence per 100 nondemented persons of MCI-amnestic, MCI-multidomains, and MCI-single-nonmemory was 2.1%, 1.8%, and 7.2%, respectively. When applying modified definitions for MCI-amnestic and MCI-multidomains, the occurrence almost doubled. Seven percent of the sample had impairment on a global cognitive task but performed at normal levels on all other domain-specific tasks. MCI-multidomains showed the highest progression to AD (hazard ratio [HR]: 23.6, 9.3-60.1). MCI-amnestic reached similar predictivity only when using the modified definition (HR: 17.9, 6.8-46.9). Even participants without MCI who had only global deficits had a ninefold risk of AD (HR: 9.1, 2.8-29.4). Conclusions Two-thirds of MCI-multidomains, but only half of MCI-amnestic progress to AD. The standard MCI criteria failed to identify those people with global cognitive deficits who have, however, a high risk of progressing to AD.
Key findings
- Results Occurrence per 100 nondemented persons of MCI-amnestic, MCI-multidomains, and MCI-single-nonmemory was 2.1%, 1.8%, and 7.2%, respectively.
Why it matters
In this three-year population-based study, MCI-multidomains showed the highest progression to Alzheimer's disease, and MCI-amnestic reached similar predictivity only when using a modified definition. The authors also identified a group with only global cognitive deficits who were not detected by current operational criteria for mild cognitive impairment.
Study details
- Effect size2.1%; 1.8%; 7.2%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: journal h-index 178 (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 | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 220 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 11.0 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 11.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 16 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 12 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Laura Fratiglioni: h-index 133 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (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 18591580) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Palmer, K., Bäckman, L., Winblad, B., & Fratiglioni, L. (2008). Mild cognitive impairment in the general population: occurrence and progression to Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181753a64
Vancouver
Palmer K, Bäckman L, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Mild cognitive impairment in the general population: occurrence and progression to Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. 2008. doi:10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181753a64. PMID: 18591580.
BibTeX
@article{palmer2008-18591580,
author = {Palmer, K. and Bäckman, L. and Winblad, B. and Fratiglioni, L.},
title = {{Mild cognitive impairment in the general population: occurrence and progression to Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181753a64},
pmid = {18591580},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181753a64}
}
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