An intergenerational analysis of cognitive impairment in healthy elders

Abstract

Cognitive disorders are common in elderly population and are becoming an increasingly important public health problem, partly because of the rapid aging of the population. This study was conducted to find out the differences between cognitive ability between normal adults and healthy elders of north region. The mild cognitive impairment (MCI) resulting in limitations and delayed treatment of dementia, should be considered an entry point for researching recent changes in the lives of healthy elderly. In this study we have applied MoCA test on the 36 normal healthy elders belonging to high socioeconomic status and normal young adults. Results have shown that there was no significant difference amongst the young normal adults; all the participants had normal MoCA scores. The MoCA scores were significantly impaired in all the healthy elders and there was a significant difference between the normal young adults and healthy elders. Age has a significant influence on MOCA score in older adults. Hence there is a need for age specific stratification in cut-off scores.