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What impact does the diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment have on the wellbeing, everyday behaviour and healthcare utilisation of people and their carers? A systematic review

Lookup NU author(s): Dr RĂ­ona McArdle, Professor Sarah Slight

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

Background: More than 55 million people have dementia worldwide; it is one of the major causes of disability and dependency globally. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered an early indicative factor for the development of dementia. There are growing efforts to develop tools to detect and diagnose MCI earlier; consequently, we need to understand the perspectives of patients and carers regarding the implications of a MCI diagnosis. Objective: To systematically review the qualitative literature to understand the impact of a MCI diagnosis on both the individual and their carers, focusing on wellbeing, everyday behaviours, and healthcare utilisation. Methods: Key search terms were used to search five databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, Embase and Psychinfo) on 21st September 2022, and updated 28th April 2024. Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed qualitative research published in English that obtained the perspectives of community-dwellers with MCI or carers and focused on either their everyday behaviours, wellbeing, and/or healthcare utilisation. The protocol was pre-registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021291995). Data was synthesized narratively following PRISMA guidelines. Results: Fifteen papers were included. Reasons for exclusion included a focus on discrete symptoms only (n=16), incorrect study design (n=10), publication type (n=6), context (n=4), population (n=6), or unable to retrieve (n=6). Key qualitative findings highlighted the negative impact of an MCI diagnosis on the wellbeing of both patients and carers, due to stigma and limited understanding of the diagnosis/prognosis. Changes in everyday behaviour varied, with either increased or decreased motivation to conduct physical activity, hobbies and/or engage in social events or opportunities. Both patients and carers were sometimes dissatisfied with healthcare services, describing how their concerns were often not addressed. Trust in clinicians emerged as a key theme, with ineffective communication during clinical consolations highlighted as a reason for lack of trust. Conclusions: This review indicated that people with MCI and their carers perceived a MCI diagnosis as impactful to them across key facets of life. There was a critical need to effectively and clearly communicate the diagnosis and prognosis of MCI to ensure trust in healthcare services, and provide risk-reduction strategies to support wellbeing.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Connolly EM, Mc Ardle R, Bimpong KAA, Slight SP

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

Year: 2024

Pages: ePub ahead of Print

Online publication date: 29/08/2024

Acceptance date: 12/07/2024

Date deposited: 17/07/2024

ISSN (print): 1387-2877

ISSN (electronic): 1875-8908

Publisher: IOS Press

URL: https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-231466

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-231466

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/fv37-ds26

Data Access Statement: Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during this study.


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust
Newcastle University
NIHR Fellowship 301677
NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)

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