title: Prevalence of aging-associated cognitive decline in an Italian elderly population: results from cross-sectional phase of Italian PRoject on Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease (IPREA).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prevalence of the preclinical phase of dementia varies greatly, according to the diagnostic criteria and assessment procedures applied. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment according to the Aging-Associated Cognitive Decline (AACD) diagnostic criteria in an Italian elderly population.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a multicenter community-based prospective study, 4785 Italian subjects aged 65-84 years, randomly selected from the registries of 12 Italian municipalities, were assessed by personal and informant interviews, physical and neurological examinations and an extensive neuropsychological battery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of these older subjects, 274 (9.2%) fulfilled all the AACD criteria, whereas 561 (18.8%) fulfilled only 3 of them (AACD-3). When the two groups diagnosed according to AACD criteria (AACD and AACD- 3) were merged, the prevalence was 28.0% (28.3% for men, 27.6% for women). Two other groups of subjects were also identified: a) Subjects with Objective evidence of Cognitive Decline without cognitive complaints (OCD), 508 (17.0%), i.e., subjects with documented neuropsychological deficits, although neither subjects nor informants reported cognitive complaints; and b) Subjects with Cognitive Complaints without objective demonstrable cognitive deficits (CC), 44 (1.5%), i.e., subjects and/or informants reported cognitive complaints without evidence of neuropsychological deficits. Thus, taking into account the additional OCD group, a total of 1343 persons with cognitive impairment without dementia (45.0%) was identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On the basis of our results, we estimate that 45% of our population-based Italian sample aged 65-84 years had some kind of cognitive deficits without dementia.
authors.affiliation: National Center on Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scafato
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gandin
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galluzzo
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghirini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cacciatore
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capurso
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Solfrizzi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panza
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cocchi
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Consoli
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Enzi
authors.forename: Giovanni B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Frisoni
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gandolfo
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giampaoli
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Inzitari
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Crepaldi
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mecocci
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Negrini
authors.forename: Demetrio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Postacchini
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rengo
authors.forename: Gino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Farchi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies