A study of cognitive and functional decline and neuropsychiatric symptoms across the continuum from normal aging to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Background. Relative little attention has been paid to the relationship between functional disturbances and cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric symptoms in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The current study explores these associations using the recently developed advanced activities of daily living tool (a-ADL).
Methods. In this study, 147 participants, mean age of 80.2 years (SD= 5.0; range= 65.9-91.0), were recruited comprising three groups: (1) cognitive healthy older people (n=50), patients with MCI (n=48) and (3) patients with mild Alzheimer's Disease (n=49). Global (a-ADL-DI) and cognitive (a-ADL-CDI) a-ADL indices were correlated with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Cambridge Cognitive Examination - Revised (CAMCOG-R) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) for the whole sample and for the three groups separately.
Results. The a-ADL-DI and a-ADL-CDI correlated significantly with the cognitive (ranging from r=-.164 to -.633; pConclusion. These results are better than previous associations with basic and instrumental ADLs. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence that functional impairment in a-ADL could discriminate between healthy people, patients with MCI and mild AD.