Neuropsychological predictors of incident dementia in patients with vascular cognitive impairment, without dementia

Background - Vascular cognitive impairment that does not fulfill dementia criteria (ie, vascular cognitive impairment, no dementia [CIND]) is common. Although progression to dementia is frequent, little is known about factors that predict progression. We examined whether performance on neuropsychological tests administered at baseline could predict incident cases of dementia in patients with vascular CIND after 5 years. Summary of Report - The Canadian Study of Health and Aging is a prospective, cohort study of 10 263 randomly selected persons aged ≥65 years. Of 149 people diagnosed with vascular CIND, 125 completed a battery of neuropsychological tests at baseline. Follow-up cognitive diagnoses were available for 102 individuals. After 5 years, 45 patients (44%) developed dementia. Low baseline scores on tests of memory and category fluency were associated with incident dementia. Conclusions - Neuropsychological measures can indicate risk of dementia in patients with vascular CIND. This study did not suggest a prediction-to-progression profile distinct from that seen in Alzheimer disease.