As some participants were “lost to follow-up”, the researchers were only able to look at 480 people from the original mild cognitive impairment group. While 142 still had mild cognitive impairment, they found that 62 people from this group now had dementia. The researchers also found that 276 people no longer met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment – showing us that mild cognitive impairment does not always lead to dementia and it isn’t necessarily permanent.

Let’s first look at the factors linked to a lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.