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58/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 58 out of 100. Mild cognitive impairment

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

Background Mild cognitive impairment is considered as the first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), when the individual exhibits below performance on standardized neuropsychological tests. However, some subjects before having a lower performance on cognitive assessments already have a subjective memory complaint. Objective A review about subjective cognitive decline, the association with AD biomarkers and risk of conversion to dementia. Methods We performed a comprehensive non-systematic review on PubMed. The keywords used in the search were terms related to subjective cognitive decline. Results Subjective cognitive decline is characterized by self-experience of deterioration in cognitive performance not detected objectively through formal neuropsychological testing. However, various terms and definitions have been used in the literature and the lack of a widely accepted concept hampers comparison of studies. Epidemiological data have shown that individuals with subjective cognitive decline are at increased risk of progression to AD dementia. In addition, there is evidence that this group has a higher prevalence of positive biomarkers for amyloidosis and neurodegeneration. However, Alzheimer's disease is not the only cause of subjective cognitive decline and various other conditions can be associated with subjective memory complaints, such as psychiatric disorders or normal aging. The features suggestive of a neurodegenerative disorder are: onset of decline within the last five years, age at onset above 60 years, associated concerns about decline and confirmation by an informant. Conclusion These findings support the idea that subjective cognitive complaints may be an early clinical marker that precedes mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Studart, A., & Nitrini, R. (2016). Subjective cognitive decline: The first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease? Dementia & neuropsychologia. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1003002

Vancouver

Studart A, Nitrini R. Subjective cognitive decline: The first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease? Dementia & neuropsychologia. 2016. doi:10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1003002. PMID: 29213452.

BibTeX

@article{studart2016-29213452,
  author  = {Studart, A. and Nitrini, R.},
  title   = {{Subjective cognitive decline: The first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease?}},
  journal = {Dementia \& neuropsychologia},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1003002},
  pmid    = {29213452},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1003002}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a pooled review. It combines earlier studies, so it is only as good as the studies it pools. Check how many were included, whether they were similar enough to combine, and whether the authors report inconsistency between them.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded high. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. High means the abstract mentions a randomized design, a meta-analysis or a systematic review. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Results Subjective cognitive decline is characterized by self-experience of deterioration in cognitive performance not detected objectively through formal neuropsychological testing.
Epidemiological data have shown that individuals with subjective cognitive decline are at increased risk of progression to AD dementia.
However, Alzheimer's disease is not the only cause of subjective cognitive decline and various other conditions can be associated with subjective memory complaints, such as psychiatric disorders or normal aging.
Conclusion These findings support the idea that subjective cognitive complaints may be an early clinical marker that precedes mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease.

Why it matters

This review reports that people with subjective cognitive decline are at increased risk of progression to Alzheimer's dementia and more often have positive biomarkers, but Alzheimer's disease is not the only cause of such complaints. It concerns early detection and risk and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.

Study details

Study designsystematic review
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 58/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia & neuropsychologia)
Journal's citation record	0 / 4	Dementia & Neuropsychologia: journal h-index 58 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	12 / 12	A systematic review of all the studies on the question
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2016 — 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	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	A review of other studies — randomization is not credited here
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 154 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	12.8 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 4.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	1 / 6	Cited by 2 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 48 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Ricardo Nitríni: h-index 69 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Universidade de São Paulo: institution h-index 936 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29213452)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	58 / 100	—

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