Table 2.

Individual Studies of Patients' Experience with MCI

Description of the Study	Results of the Study
	Understanding MCI
12 persons with MCI (age range: 65 – 86) (Lingler, et al., 2006)	Participants understood the symptoms of MCI and reacted differently to the diagnosis, in terms of positive (n = 5, e.g., participants felt relief that it was not a diagnosis of AD), negative (n = 2, e.g., participants worried that the diagnosis may progress to dementia), or neutral (n = 4, e.g., participants perceived cognitive decline, but were fine with the diagnosis).
30 persons with MCI (age range: 60 – 87) (Lin et al., in press)	Participants correctly identified symptoms related to MCI; generally attributed MCI to aging, heredity, and abnormal brain changes; and believed MCI to be chronic, predictable, and controllable, causing little emotional distress. However, there were no consistent beliefs regarding the negative consequences of MCI or whether MCI was understandable.
63 persons with MCI (Mage = 81) (Lin & Heidrich, 2012)	Participants endorsed an average of 7 symptoms that they experienced and believed were related to MCI and an average of 7 potential causes of MCI. Participants tended to believe MCI was chronic, not cyclic, and controllable, but they differed in their beliefs about the consequences, understandability and emotional impact of MCI.
8 persons with MCI (age range: 58 – 83) (Joosten-Weyn Banningh et al., 2007)	Participants identified changes related to their cognitive abilities, mobility, affect, vitality and somatic complaints as symptoms caused by MCI. They also considered negative consequences such as anxiety and the loss of self-confidence.
11 persons with MCI (age > 60) (Lu et al., 2007)	Participants were aware of their cognitive impairment in their daily lives, but they expected to maintain the ability to live independently. However, they also experienced uncertainty about the disease progression.
Persons with MCI (n = 20, Mage = 72) and AD patients (n = 20, Mage = 77) (Frank et al., 2006b)	Participants were aware of cognitive impairment and their changing role in social/family activities, and also felt uncertain about disease progression.
Persons with MCI (n = 46, Mage = 77) and caregivers (n = 29, Mage = 70) (McIlvane et al., 2008)	Forty percent of participants believed that their disease was unlikely to convert to AD, and 76% of the participants perceived that the disease process was controllable through practical strategies (e.g., staying optimistic, mental and physical exercises).
	Coping with MCI
63 persons with MCI (Mage = 81) (Lin & Heidrich, 2012)	Participants used many dementia prevention behaviors and memory aids, some problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies, and few dysfunctional coping strategies.
Persons with MCI (n = 46, Mage = 77) and caregivers (n = 29, Mage = 70) (McIlvane et al., 2008), using the brief COPE scale and a service use checklist.	Participants engaged in a high frequency of coping such as use of support services (e.g., using legal services, financial planning, housekeeping, support groups), and management of daily living (e.g., planning daily tasks, making notes). Although less frequently reported than other strategies, some participants used strategies such as denial and substance use.
Persons with MCI (age = 58 – 83) (Joosten-Weyn Banningh et al., 2007)	Participants utilized several coping strategies, including stress reduction (e.g. "I tell myself: what I can do, I will do; if I can't, I just leave it"), managing daily living (e.g. "I make notes," "I repeat the information I want to remember"), medical care (e.g., "I visited my GP (general practitioner)"), and
	Functional Health
Cross-sectional comparison of the four subtypes of persons with MCI (amnestic single domain: n = 36, Mage = 75.08; amnestic multiple domain: n = 45, Mage = 78.36; non-amnestic single domain: n = 26, Mage = 74.81; non-amnestic multiple domain: n = 17, Mage = 75.59) and healthy control (n = 68, Mage = 72.41) (Aretouli & Brandt, 2009).	Regardless of subtype of MCI, participants reported more difficulties in instrumental activities of daily lives than healthy elderly.
	Functional Health (Continued)
Two cross-sectional studies of persons with MCI (n = 50, Mage = 70.01) and healthy control (n = 59, Mage = 67.76) (Wadley et al., 2008) (Wadley et al., 2009)	Participants were slower than healthy elderly in activities such as telephone use, finding belongings, grocery shopping, and medication management and had worse performance on global and discrete driving maneuvers.
Cross-sectional comparison of persons with amnestic MCI (n = 27, Mage = 71.33), persons with non-amnestic MCI (n = 15, Mage = 72.20), and healthy control (n = 42, Mage = 72.45) (Schmitter-Edgecombe et al., 2009)	Participants had significantly more difficulties than healthy elderly in social functioning, general activities, conversations, household activities, taking medications, telephone use, and food preparation.
A 10-year French longitudinal study of healthy control (n = 828) and persons with MCI (n = 285) (The whole sample: Mage = 80.8) (Peres et al., 2006)	Participants had more trouble taking medication, using the telephone, travelling alone, and handling finances.
A cross-sectional study of healthy controls (n = 311) and persons with MCI (n = 255) in Korean older adults (age range: 60 – 94) (Kim et al., 2009)	Participants had significantly worse everyday functioning than healthy elderly in using household appliances and the telephone, transportation, and handling finances.
	Mental Well-being
Persons with MCI (n = 46, Mage = 77) and caregivers (n = 29, Mage = 70) (McIlvane et al., 2008)	Participants reported relatively typical levels of mental well-being using measures of depression, life satisfaction, mastery, and mental quality of life.
In two studies comparing dementia patients (n = 357, Mage = 65.77), persons with MCI (n = 36, Mage = 82.11), and a healthy control (n = 72, Mage = 79.75) (Missotten et al., 2008) or comparing mild AD (n = 26, Mage = 78.2), MCI (n = 30, Mage = 77.4), and elderly controls (n = 23, Mage = 74.7) (Ready et al., 2004),	Participants with MCI also reported a similar overall quality of life compared to healthy elderly, and significantly higher levels of quality of life than participants with dementia.
In a study of 255 persons with MCI (Mage = 71.98) and 311 healthy controls (Mage = 70.66) in Korea, (Ryu et al., 2010).	Participants and their caregivers both reported significantly lower levels of quality of life if the participant had any neuropsychiatric symptoms.
In a study of persons with MCI (n = 85, Mage = 66.7) and healthy control (n = 37, Mage = 63.9) in a Thai community (Muangpaisan et al., 2008).	Participants were found to have significantly lower psychological well-being than that of the healthy elderly.

Note. AD = Alzheimer's disease; MCI = Mild Cognitive Impairment.