Activities of daily living: where do they fit in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease?

Impairment in activities of daily living (ADL) accompanies cognitive and behavioral symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Conventionally, ADL impairment has been relegated to the stage of dementia, but instrumental ADL impairment has been shown to occur earlier at the stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). There are many subjective and performance-based instrumental ADL scales, some of which are useful in distinguishing between MCI and AD dementia, and even between MCI and clinically normal elderly individuals. These scales have been associated with amyloid and neurodegeneration biomarkers of AD. Clinically normal elderly individuals who have a positive AD biomarker are thought to be at the preclinical stage of AD. Scales of more complex ADL are needed to better capture individuals with preclinical AD before they start to progress to MCI.