Can the DSM-5 framework enhance the diagnosis of MCI?

Abstract

As the field of mild cognitive impairment moves forward and various expert groups come together to update the diagnostic criteria, the framework adopted by the DSM-5 deserves consideration as a model. This framework could help disentangle cause from consequence, maximize internal consistency, and minimize redundancy and ambiguity. It could make the diagnostic criteria easier for both clinicians and researchers to implement, thus enhancing reliability of diagnosis. It could help maintain conceptual rigor by distinguishing among core diagnostic features (inclusion as well as exclusion criteria), subtypes, specifiers, associated features, and risk factors. Each level of classification, subtyping, and specification should delineate an increasingly homogeneous subgroup with an enhanced likelihood of having common underpinnings and prognosis. New knowledge could be systematically incorporated into this framework. This approach could improve the predictive value and thus the utility of the overall diagnosis.