On direct assessment, patients with amnestic MCI as a group demonstrate impairments across a range of financial abilities. These impairments are mild and may only apply to a subset of patients with MCI. However, existing diagnostic criteria for MCI should be applied flexibly to include mild impairments in higher order activities of daily life such as financial capacity.

Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) demonstrate significant impairments on clinically relevant abilities associated with capacity to consent to treatment. In obtaining informed consent, clinicians and researchers working with patients with MCI must consider the likelihood that many of these patients may have impairments in consent capacity related to their amnestic disorder and related cognitive impairments.

Financial capacity is a complex instrumental activity of daily living critical to independent functioning of older adults and sensitive to impairment in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, little is known about the neurocognitive basis of fi nancial impairment in dementia. We developed cognitive models of fi nancial capacity in cognitively healthy older adults ( n = 85) and patients with MCI ( n = 113) and mild AD ( n = 43). All participants were administered the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI) and a neuropsychological test battery. Univariate correlation and multiple regression procedures were used to develop cognitive models of overall FCI performance across groups. The control model ( R 2 = .38) comprised (in order of entry) written arithmetic skills, delayed story recall, and simple visuomotor sequencing. The MCI model ( R 2 = .69) comprised written arithmetic skills, visuomotor sequencing and set alternation, and race. The AD model ( R 2 = .65) comprised written arithmetic skills, simple visuomotor sequencing, and immediate story recall. Written arithmetic skills (WRAT-3 Arithmetic) was the primary predictor across models, accounting for 27% (control model), 46% (AD model), and 55% (MCI model) of variance. Executive function and verbal memory were secondary model predictors. The results offer insight into the cognitive basis of fi nancial capacity across the dementia spectrum of cognitive aging, MCI, and AD. ( JINS , 2009, 15 , 258-267 .)

This study investigated cognitive predictors of medical decision-making capacity (MDC) in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A total of 56 healthy controls, 60 patients with MCI, and 31 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) were administered the Capacity to Consent to Treatment Instrument (CCTI) and a neuropsychological test battery. The CCTI assesses MDC across four established treatment consent standards-S1 (expressing choice), S3 (appreciation), S4 (reasoning), and S5 (understanding)-and one experimental standard [S2] (reasonable choice). Scores on neuropsychological measures were correlated with scores on each CCTI standard. Significant bivariate correlates were subsequently entered into stepwise regression analyses to identity group-specific multivariable predictors of MDC across CCTI standards. Different multivariable cognitive models emerged across groups and consent standards. For the MCI group, measures of short-term verbal memory were key predictors of MDC for each of the three clinically relevant standards (S3, S4, and S5). Secondary predictors were measures of executive function. In contrast, in the mild AD group, measures tapping executive function and processing speed were primary predictors of S3, S4, and S5. MDC in patients with MCI is supported primarily by short-term verbal memory. The findings demonstrate the impact of amnestic deficits on MDC in patients with MCI. (JINS, 2008, 14, 297-308.)

OBJECTIVE Self and informant reports of functional abilities are weighted heavily in diagnostic decision making regarding mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, it is unclear whether patients with MCI are fully aware and provide reliable estimates of their functional status. In this study, we used three different approaches to examine accuracy of self report of financial abilities among patients with MCI. DESIGN Cross-sectional, case-comparison group study. SETTING University medical center. PARTICIPANTS Seventy-four patients with MCI and their informants, and 73 cognitively healthy older adults and their informants. MEASUREMENTS We compared MCI patients’ report of their financial abilities to their performance on an objective measure of financial capacity. We also compared informant reports of patients’ abilities to patients’ objective test performance, and informant reports to patients’ self report. RESULTS We found that the discrepancy between self report and objective performance was higher among MCI patients compared to the cognitively healthy older adults on the financial domains of Checkbook Management, Bank Statement Management, and Bill Payment, and on overall financial capacity. We also found that MCI patients with poorer global cognition overestimated their financial abilities whereas those with higher depressive symptoms underestimated their financial abilities. Overall, MCI patients were better at estimating their financial abilities than their informants. CONCLUSIONS Patients with MCI are not fully aware of deficits in their financial abilities. Both cognitive impairment and depression impact MCI patients’ self-reported functioning. In addition, MCI informants misestimate patients’ financial abilities. This raises concerns about the widespread use of informant report as the gold standard against which to evaluate patient self-report of functioning.