Quality of life in persons with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The global increase in the aging population has raised concerns over various age-related conditions like dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and their consequences on the affected persons. People with MCI exhibit cognitive deficits more significantly than expected for their age and literacy level. Though the nature of this condition is considered "mild", studies have reported that even more subtle deficits can influence the quality of life (QOL). Objective: The present work aimed at exploring and comparing QOL in older adults with and without MCI through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: After a detailed search of articles till May 2021 in the relevant electronic databases (PubMed Central, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Cochrane) using the keywords "mild cognitive impairment", "quality of life", "old", "old aged", "aged", "older adult", "geriatrics", "healthy controls", "healthy participants", and "normal controls", we included 23 articles in the systematic review and 12 in the meta-analysis. Results: The quality of all the included articles were assessed using the Modified Downs and Black tool. Most of the studies in the systematic review demonstrated differences in QOL scores in older adults with MCI compared to healthy older adults. However, meta-analysis findings suggest that older adults with MCI had statistically non-significant yet lower differences in QOL compared to their healthy counterparts. Conclusion: Future research should focus on developing QOL assessment tools specifically for older adults with MCI and follow-up studies that could provide better knowledge of their changing cognitive profile and life quality.