Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T10:20:59.012Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ICD-10 mild cognitive disorder: epidemiological evidence on its validity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Helen Christensen ,
A. S. Henderson ,
A. F. Jorm ,
A. J. Mackinnon ,
Ruth Scott  and
A. E. Korten
Helen Christensen*
Affiliation:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. S. Henderson
Affiliation:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. F. Jorm
Affiliation:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. J. Mackinnon
Affiliation:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Ruth Scott
Affiliation:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. E. Korten
Affiliation:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Helen Christensen, National Health and Medical Research Council, Social Psychiatry Research Unit. The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

Criteria for the diagnosis of ICD-10 Mild Cognitive Disorder (MCD) were applied to a sample of 897 community dwelling elderly participants. Criterion A (the presence of a physical disorder) was met by 44%, Criterion B (report of a cognitive disorder) by 17%, Criterion C (an abnormality in quantified cognitive assessments) by 60%, and Criterion D (exclusion on basis of dementia and other conditions) by 74%. A total of 36 cases (4%) met all four criteria. Correlations between Criteria A and B, and B and C were weak (r = 0·18), and the correlation between Criteria A and C was almost zero (r = 0·02). This suggests that no syndrome exists. Membership of MCD was predicted by a report that memory or intelligence interfered with daily life but not by performance on cognitive tests or by a report of physical illness. Cases of MCD had higher anxiety, depression and neuroticism scores than normal elderly, but did not differ substantially on tests of cognitive functioning. These findings call into question the validity of the ICD-10 diagnosis of MCD.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 105 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised). APA: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Barker, A. & Jones, R. (1993). Age-associated memory impairment: diagnostic and treatment issues. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 8, 305–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackford, R. C. & La Rue, A. (1989). Criteria for diagnosing age associated memory impairment: proposed improvements from the field. Developmental Neuropsychology 5, 295–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brayne, C. (1993). Research and Alzheimer's disease: an epidemiological perspective. Psychological Medicine 23, 287–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bromley, D. B. (1974). The Psychology of Human Ageing, 2nd edn. Penguin: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, UK.Google Scholar
Christensen, H. & Henderson, A. S. (1993). Evidence on the validity of ICD-10 Mild Cognitive Disorder from samples of community and nursing home residents.Paper delivered to the Sixth International Psychogeriatric Association Congress,Berlin.Google Scholar
Christensen, H., Mackinnon, A., Jorm, A. F., Henderson, A. S., Scott, L. R. & Korten, A. E. (1994). Age differences and inter-individual variation in cognition in community dwelling elderly. Psychology and Aging 9, 381–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crook, T., Bartus, R. T., Ferris, S. H., Whitehouse, P., Cohen, G. D. & Gershon, S. (1986). Age associated memory impairment: proposed diagnostic criteria and measures of clinical change – Report of a National Institute of Mental Health Work Group. Developmental Neuropsychology 2, 261–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crook, T. H. & Larrabee, G. J. (1990). A self-rating scale for evaluating memory in everyday life. Psychology and Aging 5, 48–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutler, S. J. & Grams, A. E. (1988). Correlates of self-reported everyday memory problems. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 43, S82–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J. & Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences 6, 21–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faust, D. & Miner, R. A. (1986). The empiricist and his new clothes: DSM-III in perspective. American Journal of Psychiatry 143, 962–967.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. & McHugh, P. R. (1975). ‘Mini-Mental State’: a practical method for grading the cognitive status of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, D., Bridges, K., Duncan-Jones, P. & Grayson, D. (1988). Detecting anxiety and depression in general medical settings. British Medical Journal 297, 897–899.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henderson, A. S., Jorm, A. F., Mackinnon, A. J., Christensen, H., Scott, L. R., Korten, A. E. & Doyle, C. (1994). A survey of dementia in the Canberra population: experience with ICD-10 and DSM-III-R criteria. Psychological Medicine 24, 473–482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hultsch, D. F., Hertzog, C. & Dixon, R. (1987). Age differences in metamemory: resolving the inconsistencies. Canadian Journal of Psychology 41, 193–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jorm, A. F. & Korten, A. E. (1988). Assessment of cognitive decline in the elderly by informant interview. British Journal of Psychiatry 152, 209–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jorm, A. F. & Jacomb, P. (1989). The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE): socio-demographic correlates, reliability, validity and some norms. Psychological Medicine 19, 1015–1022.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jorm, A. F., Scott, R., Cullen, J. S. & Mackinnon, A. J. (1991). Performance of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) as a screening test for dementia. Psychological Medicine 21, 785–790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jorm, A. F., Christensen, H., Henderson, A. S., Korten, A. E., Mackinnon, A. J. & Scott, R. (1994). Complaints of cognitive decline in the elderly: a comparison of reports by subjects and informants in a community survey. Psychological Medicine 24, 365–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, R. L., Zarit, A. H., Hilbert, N. M. & Niderehe, G. (1975). Memory complaint and impairment in the aged: the effect of depression and altered brain function. Archives of General Psychiatry 32, 1569–1573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendell, R. E. (1989). Clinical validity. Psychological Medicine 19, 45–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. (1993). Toward a scientific nosology: strengths and limitations. Archives of General Psychiatry 47, 969–973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kral, V. A. (1962). Senescent forgetfulness: benign and malignant. Canadian Medical Association Journal 86, 257–260.Google ScholarPubMed
Lezak, M. (1976). Neuropsychological Assessment. Oxford University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Livingstone, G., Hawkins, A., Graham, N., Blizard, B. & Mann, A. (1990). The Gospel Oak study: prevalence rates of dementia, depression and activity limitation among elderly residents in inner London. Psychological Medicine 20, 137–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackinnon, A., Christensen, H., Cullen, J. S., Doyle, C. J., Henderson, A. S., Jorm, A. F., Korten, A. E. & Scott, L. R. (1993). The Canberra Interview for the Elderly: assessment of its validity in the diagnosis of dementia and depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 76, 763–769.Google Scholar
Nelson, H. E. (1982). National Adult Reading Test (NART). NFER-Nelson: Windsor, UK.Google Scholar
O'Brien, J. T. & Levy, R. (1992). Age associated memory impairment. British Medical Journal 304, 5–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, J. T., Beats, B., Hill, K., Howard, R., Sahakian, B. & Levy, R. (1992). Do subjective memory complaints precede dementia? A three-year follow-up of patients with supposed ‘benign senescent forgetfulness’. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 7, 481–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, D. W., Pollitt, P. A., Roth, M., Brook, P. B. & Reiss, B. B. (1990). Memory complaints and impairment in normal, depressed, and demented elderly persons identified in a community survey. Archives of General Psychiatry 47, 224–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reisberg, B., Ferris, S. H., Shulman, E., Steinberg, G., Buttinger, C., Sinaiko, E., Borenstein, J., de Leon, M. J. & Cohen, J. (1986). Longitudinal course of normal ageing and progressive dementia of the Alzheimer's type: a prospective study of 106 subjects over 3·6 year mean interval. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 10, 571–578.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, E. & Guze, S. B. (1970). Establishment of diagnostic validity in psychiatric illness: its application to schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 126, 983–987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salthouse, T. A. (1991). Theoretical Perspectives on Cognitive Ageing. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, NJ.Google Scholar
Smith, A. (1982). Symbol Digit Modalities Test. Western Psychological Services: Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Smith, G., Ivnik, R. J., Petersen, R. C., Malec, J. F., Kokmen, E. & Tangalos, E. (1991). Age associated memory impairment diagnoses: problems of reliability and concerns for terminology. Psychology and Aging 6, 551–558.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Social Psychiatry Research Unit (1992). The Canberra Interview for the Elderly: a new field instrument for the diagnosis of dementia and depression by ICD-10 and DSM-III-R. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 85, 105–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1945). A standardized memory scale for clinical use. Journal of Psychology 19, 87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised Manual. Psychological Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Wilson, B., Cockburn, J. & Baddeley, A. (1985). The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test. Thames Valley Test Company: Reading, England.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1992). The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1993). The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Diagnostic Criteria for Research. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar
Zaudig, M. (1992). A new systematic method of measurement and diagnosis of ‘Mild Cognitive Impairment’ and dementia according to ICD-10 and DSM-III-R criteria. International Psychogeriatrics 4, suppl. 2, 203–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar