Background: The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), herein China, was without involving the suburban communities, where the awareness of MCI still remains extremely weak.
Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of MCI in the Chinese residents aged ≥65 in the suburban communities of Shanghai, China, and study the awareness of MCI in terms of its symptom, prevention, and intervention.
Methods: A total of 925 suburban community residents aged ≥65 were evaluated with a series of clinical examinations and scale questionnaire, and 600 participated in a five-dimension questionnaire survey pertaining to the awareness of MCI.
Results: The prevalence of MCI was up to 29.8% and of dementia was 11.1%, respectively. A difference was observed among the three groups of dementia, MCI, and normal in each dimension of age, gender, education, being widowed, and living with the next generation (P < 0.05). The degree of cognitive impairment was linearly correlated with age (P < 0.001). The prevalence of MCI was higher in the females (P < 0.001), in the group of low educational level (P < 0.001), in the widowed residents (P < 0.01), and in those who did not live with their next generations (P < 0.01). The family's concern for MCI symptoms in the elderly accounted for 60%; the awareness rate of MCI symptoms, 25.5%; the awareness rate of MCI prevention, 15.5%; and the rate of taking MCI seniors to the doctor, 32%.
Conclusions: The prevalence of MCI in the suburban communities of Shanghai was high but the awareness of MCI was low.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; awareness; dementia; mild cognitive impairment; prevalence.