Terms and Measures of Cognitive Health Associated With Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The Healthy Brain Initiative: National Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health (2007) called on the research community to disseminate its work on cognitive aging and cognitive health. The purpose of this scoping review was to (1) identify terminology that cognitive, social, and behavioral scientists use to describe cognitive aging and cognitive health, in association with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, among older adults; (2) demonstrate how such terms are defined; and (3) illustrate how these constructs are measured in research settings. Empirical studies published 2007–2018 were examined for terminology, definitions, disciplinary orientation, and measurement mechanisms. Analysis of the corpus and a detailed review of the terms “cognitive impairment” and “mild cognitive impairment” reveal that formal definitions are provided infrequently and measurement of constructs ranges widely. Overall, the variability in terminology, definitions, and measures reflects a need for greater specificity in research communication, such that cross-disciplinary collaboration can be facilitated.