Skip Navigation



Age and Ageing Advance Access published online on August 5, 2008
Age and Ageing, doi:10.1093/ageing/afn147
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
37/5/497    most recent
afn147v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mitchell, A. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mitchell, A. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Copyright © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.

Commentary

Is it time to separate subjective cognitive complaints from the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment?

Alex J. Mitchell

Leicester General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Liaison Psychiatry, Department of Cancer & Molecular Medicine, Leicester Royal Infirmary LE1 5WW, UK

Address correspondence to: A.J. Mitchell. Tel: (+44) 0116 225 6218; Fax: (+44) 0116 2951951. Email: ajm80{at}le.ac.uk

Subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) are currently considered to be a core feature of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Yet the implications of including or excluding subjective complaints has not been previously considered. The key questions are how many health people complain of SCC compared to those with MCI? How is the epidemiology of MCI affected by the requirement for SCC? How is the prognosis of MCI influenced by SCC? and how should SCC be defined and measured? Findings to date suggest that subjective complaints are one of many variables that comprise risk in individuals with MCI. Individuals who do not have subjective complaints and might not qualify under current definitions of MCI may still have a disorder that is of clinical significance. Despite a close association, SCC may be neither necessary nor sufficient for a diagnosis of either MCI or dementia.

Keywords: subjective memory complaints, mild cognitive impairment, dementia, elderly

Received 14 February 2008; accepted in revised form 5 June 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.