title: Longitudinal declines in instrumental activities of daily living in stable and progressive mild cognitive impairment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous cross-sectional studies suggest that assessments of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) may be useful for operationalizing the differences in functional deficits seen in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. However, their utility for longitudinal changes in IADLs in the transition between MCI and dementia remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed longitudinal IADL data with the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) in stable (MCI-S; n = 1,318) or progressive (MCI-P; n = 1,108) MCI patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Larger increases in FAQ scores were seen in the MCI-P group across a 14.5-month interval, but overlapping distributions in the two groups yielded poorer discriminatory power than prior cross-sectional reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings emphasize the difficulties in operationalizing the criterion of 'essentially intact' IADLs in MCI, which may complicate the interpretation of disease progression in MCI treatment trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif., USA.
authors.forename: Julia J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Po H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Grill
authors.forename: Edmond
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Teng
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D000647:Amnesia / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires