Characterization of activities of daily living in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) differ from cognitively normal (NC) older adults on traditional and novel informant-based measures of activities of daily living (ADL) and to identify cognitive correlates of ADLs among participants with MCI. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: University medical setting. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-seven participants (NC: N = 39; MCI: N = 38), 60 to 90 years old (73.5 +/- 6.6 years; 53% female). MEASUREMENTS: Neuropsychological and ADL measures. METHODS: Neuropsychological tests were administered to NC and MCI participants. Informants completed the Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and Physical Self-Maintenance Scale, including instrumental (IADL) and basic ADL (BADL) scales, as well as the Functional Capacities for Activities of Daily Living (FC-ADL), an error-based ADL measure. RESULTS: No statistically or clinically significant between-group differences emerged for the BADL or IADL subscales. However, a robust difference was noted for the FC-ADL scale (MCI errors > NC errors; F((1,75))= 13.6, p <0.001; d = 0.84). Among MCI participants, correlations revealed that a measure of verbal learning was the only neuropsychological correlate of FC-ADL total score (r = -0.39, df = 36, p = 0.007). No neuropsychological measures were significantly associated with the IADL or BADL subscale score. CONCLUSION: Traditional measures assessing global ADLs may not be sensitive to early functional changes related to MCI; however, error-based measures may capture the subtle evolving functional decline associated with MCI. Among MCI participants, early functional difficulties are associated with verbal learning performance, possibly secondary to the hallmark cognitive impairment associated with this cohort.

Author information

Author/s: Jefferson, Angela L (AL); Byerly, Laura K (LK); Vanderhill, Susan (S); Lambe, Susan (S); Wong, Sarah (S); Ozonoff, Al (A); Karlawish, Jason H (JH);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118-2526, USA. angelaj(-atsign-)bu.edu

Grants: K12-HD043444 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; K23-AG030962 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; M01-RR00533 (Agency:NCRR NIH HHS) ; P30 AG010124-18 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; P30-AG013846 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; P30-AG10124 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; R01-AG020627 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; R03-AG026610 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; R03-AG027480 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 16 (issue 5) : pp 375-83

Dates: Created 2008/05/01; Completed 2008/08/06; Revised 2009/05/18;

PMID: 18332397, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 5/19/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.