The diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease: Recommendations from the National Institute on Aging‐Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease

TLDR

The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association tasked a workgroup to develop criteria for mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease, and further work is needed to validate biomarker‑based criteria and standardize biomarker analysis for community use. The workgroup created two sets of criteria: a core clinical set usable without advanced imaging or CSF analysis, and a research set that incorporates imaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. The final criteria define mild cognitive impairment due to AD with four levels of certainty based on the presence and type of biomarker findings.

Abstract

The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association charged a workgroup with the task of developing criteria for the symptomatic predementia phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), referred to in this article as mild cognitive impairment due to AD. The workgroup developed the following two sets of criteria: (1) core clinical criteria that could be used by healthcare providers without access to advanced imaging techniques or cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and (2) research criteria that could be used in clinical research settings, including clinical trials. The second set of criteria incorporate the use of biomarkers based on imaging and cerebrospinal fluid measures. The final set of criteria for mild cognitive impairment due to AD has four levels of certainty, depending on the presence and nature of the biomarker findings. Considerable work is needed to validate the criteria that use biomarkers and to standardize biomarker analysis for use in community settings.