THE PREVALENCE OF MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN A NORTH INDIAN ELDERLY POPULATION: CORRELATION WITH DIABETES MELLITUS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

Abstract

Improvements in health care have extended the average life expectancy which has lead to the increase in the number of individuals over 60yrs of age. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is hence emerging as a major health problem as the people with MCI are three to four times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease (6% to 25% annually). Various studies have shown that the prevalence of MCI lies between 0.5% and 36% depending upon the diagnostic criteria used and nature of the study population. The study was conducted in the municipal area of Bikaner, Rajasthan. Individuals to be interviewed were selected by systematic random sampling method. Mini Mental Score Examination (MMSE) score was applied to screen for dementia and persons with score 20 or less were excluded. Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score was used to confirm and stage the cognitive status. Kolkata cognitive test battery was also applied to detect the. Overall prevalence of MCI was accountable i.e.19.26%. Prevalence of amnestic MCI (aMCI) was 7.78% and that of multiple domain MCI was 11.48%. Prevalence of both forms of MCI was more among diabetics as compared in non diabetics with statistically significant difference (p<0.01). Prevalence of both types of MCI was high in people of lower socio-economic class in comparison with higher class people (p<0.01). There was no difference in their prevalence in middle and upper class people. Diabetes and lower socio-economic status were associated with higher prevalence of MCI in elderly. These observations are particularly important in developing countries like India which is also considered as the diabetic capital of the world and hence prevalence of MCI is expected to rise in near future.