Does age at observation time affect the clinical presentation of mild cognitive impairment?

BACKGROUND: To date, there are no published data investigating the role of age in the clinical and neuropsychological presentation of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The aim of the study was to evaluate whether age at the time of evaluation modulates clinical, functional or cognitive profiles in MCI subjects. METHODS: A total of 167 outpatients with a clinical diagnosis of MCI were consecutively enrolled and entered in the study. Clinical and demographic characteristics were carefully recorded. Each patient underwent a wide neuropsychological standardized assessment. RESULTS: MCI subjects were divided into 3 groups according to their age at observation time: 58 MCI patients were classified as young (≤ 69 years), 89 as old (70-79 years) and 20 as very old (≥ 80 years). The 3 groups did not differ in demographic characteristics, general cognitive functions and memory impairment. Very old MCI subjects showed a significantly greater impairment than younger MCI patients in cognitive domains involving executive functions. In particular, very old MCI patients were more frequently classified as having multiple-domain amnestic MCI. CONCLUSION: Present data highlight that the clinical presentation of MCI is affected by age: at presentation, very old MCI subjects show a worse performance than younger MCI subjects on multiple abilities, particularly on executive functions.