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An Important Note about the Phased Dementia Pathway

It is important to note that phasing and staging of pre-dementia and dementia is a mental construct, not a precise science that results in clinical certainty. Progression of disease is a gradual process, and there are no tidy markers or easily distinguished “cut-off points” that develop between one day and the next to differentiate “normal” cognitive function from MCI or MCI from early dementia, etc.

It is helpful to view the Phased Dementia Pathway as a continuum that reflects cognitive changes from normal healthy aging through to end-stage dementia. At any point along the Pathway, the understanding of cognitive function may be blurry, uncertain, and often described with terms such as “possible” or “probable” cognitive impairment or dementia. There is no intention of the Phased Pathway to provide clinicians with rigid linear descriptions of disease progression, but simply a framework for organizing information and knowledge about the various progressive diseases collectively known as dementias.