Proposed diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment in Down syndrome population

Susanna Esteba-Castillo; Javier Garcia-Alba; Emili Rodríguez-Hildago; Lucía Vaquero; Ramon Novell; Fernando Moldenhauer; Miguel Ángel Castellanos

doi:10.1111/jar.12959

Proposed diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment in Down syndrome population

J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 2022 Mar;35(2):495-505. doi: 10.1111/jar.12959. Epub 2021 Oct 25.

Authors

Susanna Esteba-Castillo^{1

2}, Javier Garcia-Alba³, Emili Rodríguez-Hildago¹, Lucía Vaquero⁴, Ramon Novell^{1

2}, Fernando Moldenhauer⁵, Miguel Ángel Castellanos⁶

Affiliations

¹ Specialized Service in Mental Health and Intellectual Disability, Institute of Health Assistance, Girona, Spain.
² Neurodevelopmental Group [Girona Biomedical Research Institute]-IDIBGI, Institute of Health Assistance (IAS), Girona, Spain.
³ Research and Psychology in Education Department (Faculty of Education), Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
⁴ Laboratory of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Department of Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology (Faculty of Medicine), Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
⁵ Adults' Section of the Down syndrome Department, Internal Medicine Department, La Princesa University Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
⁶ Department of Methodology for Behavioral Science, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

PMID: 34693611
DOI: 10.1111/jar.12959

Abstract

Background: Despite presenting higher risk of dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is not well defined in Down syndrome population.

Objective: We aimed to describe cognitive and neuropsychological patterns associated with MCI in Down syndrome individuals.

Method: Two groups of adults with Down syndrome (control and prodromal) were studied throughout 3 years. Two linear mixed models and a model including the variables that best predicted group membership were built.

Results: Behavioural Regulation Index (BRI) (Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function test) and the model composed of BRI, abstraction and delayed verbal memory were the variable and model best predicting group membership, respectively.

Conclusion: Suggest a diagnosis of MCI when BRI is the earliest change perceived by caregivers and this is combined with low scores in abstract thinking, and when an amnesic pattern in delayed verbal memory is observed, but adaptive skills are preserved.

Keywords: Down syndrome; cognition; dementia; mild cognitive impairment; prodromal stages.

MeSH terms

Adult
Cognitive Dysfunction* / diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction* / epidemiology
Down Syndrome* / complications
Down Syndrome* / diagnosis
Executive Function / physiology
Humans
Intellectual Disability* / complications
Neuropsychological Tests

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding