A-251 A Community-Based Longitudinal Study of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in Georgia

Abstract Objective: As the average population ages, dementia has become one a leading challenge for health care systems in developing and developed countries. Dementia is a progressive disorder associated with the decline of cognitive function and the ability to carry out daily activities. Along with the development of screening tools to detect early-stage MCI, it is important to find out the time-line for the MCI progression. There is little recent information available on the natural course of MCI in Georgia. Method: A 7-year longitudinal study was conducted to track MCI progression, comparing individuals with initially healthy cognition (N=52) to patients showing symptoms of MCI (N=51). This study used MoCA as an indicator of cognitive change over the 7-year period. The MoCA was administered twice approximately 7 years apart and IADLs-at the end of the research. Participants were classified as MCI or cognitively intact based, on the results of the MoCA results. Results: Healthy individuals had a very limited decline in MoCA scores (M=-0.004, p