Natural history of vascular cognitive impairment and its subtypes

Patients with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) experience a worse prognosis for death, cognitive decline, and institutionalization than do older adults without cognitive impairment. There appears to be some variability in this prognosis by the chief VCI subtypes (vascular dementia, mixed Alzheimer's disease/vascular dementia, and VCI that does not meet dementia criteria). Individual patients with poor cognition, motoric effects of stroke, depression and lack of control of vascular risk factors face a worse prognosis in all VCI subtypes.