Prevalence, risk and protective factors for mild cognitive impairment in a population-based study of Singaporean elderly

Abstract

The prevalence of dementia has been widely reported, and its potential risk and protective factors are well-characterized. However, there is a scarcity of related information regarding mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Thus this population-based study aimed to determine the prevalences of MCI and its subtypes, as well as to identify the risk and protective factors for MCI in the Chinese elderly population of Singapore. Results showed that the overall prevalence of MCI was 12.5%, while the gender-adjusted prevalence of MCI was 12.3%. Gender was found to be significantly associated with the subtypes of MCI, with males more likely to have amnestic MCI and females more likely to have non-amnestic MCI. Older age, lower educational levels, lower social activity levels, depression, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and stroke were found to be risk factors for MCI in univariate analysis. However, multivariable analysis showed that only hypertension and stroke were the significant risk factors for MCI. Higher educational levels and active social engagements were significant protective factors for MCI in multivariable analysis. Age and depression had boundary significant associations with the prevalence of MCI. After adjusting for gender, the influence of hypertension, stroke, social engagement, age and depression on MCI remained unchanged, except that education became a boundary significant lower risk factor of MCI development. In conclusion, this study presented the prevalence, risk and protective factors for MCI among Singaporean Chinese older adults, which facilitates the screening of vulnerable groups for MCI.

Keywords: Gender difference; Mild cognitive impairment; Prevalence; Protective factor; Risk factor.