Magnitude and predictors of mild cognitive impairment among older populations in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Sintayehu Asnakew; Jessica Nealon; Ayele Semachew Kasa; Gashaw Walle Ayehu; Dejen Getaneh Feleke; Tigabu Munye Aytenew; Victoria Traynor

doi:10.1038/s41398-025-03620-z

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Magnitude and predictors of mild cognitive impairment among older populations in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Magnitude and predictors of mild cognitive impairment among older populations in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Sintayehu Asnakew, Jessica Nealon, Ayele Semachew Kasa, Gashaw Walle Ayehu, Dejen Getaneh Feleke, Tigabu Munye Aytenew and Victoria Traynor

Translational Psychiatry, Vol.15(1), pp.1-20

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03620-z

PMID: 41073382

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Abstract

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Background With an increasingly older population, age-related health issues such as mild cognitive impairment and dementia are serious public health concerns. Emerging data suggest that public health and preventative intervention strategies can modify early risk factors for the development of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. However, there is inadequate evidence of mild cognitive impairment in older populations in Africa. Therefore, this review aimed to provide pooled evidence of mild cognitive impairment among older populations and its predictors in Africa. Methods All the available primary studies were searched through Google Scholar, HINARI, PubMed, Psych Info, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases. The quality of the included studies was critically appraised by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) assessment tool adapted for observational studies. All the data were extracted on an Excel spreadsheet and exported to Stata version 17. During critical appraisal, disagreements between the two authors were resolved by the involvement of a third author. Effect sizes were pooled using the random-effects model, and the presence of publication bias was detected from the asymmetry of the funnel plot and statistically significant Egger’s test (p < 0.05). Results The pooled magnitude of mild cognitive impairment among older populations was 29.39% (95% CI:24.73, 34.04, I2 = 98.05%, P = 0.00). Increased age 1.56 (95%CI:1.36, 1.79), being female 2.65 (95%CI:2.06, 3.400), participants who could not read and write 4.66 (95%CI:2.83, 7.67), have no spouse 4.27 (95%CI:1.06, 17.11), having hypertension 2.95 (95%CI:1.67, 5.20), severely dependent 7.66 (95%CI:3.74, 15.68), high level of alcohol intake 2.48 (95%CI:1.49, 4.09), having depression 3.17(95%CI:2.14, 4.68), low income 3.21 (95%CI:1.98, 5.19), poor social support 2.41 (95%CI:1.65, 3.51) and poor nutritional intake 2.77 (95%CI:1.83, 4.19) were significantly associated with mild cognitive impairment. Conclusions The magnitude of mild cognitive impairment among Africa’s older populations is significant. This suggests that cognitive disorders should be routinely screened among older people who visit healthcare facilities regarding physical health to enable early detection and treatment of reversible causes of neurocognitive impairment. Furthermore, identifying modifiable factors would inform evidence-based policies to reduce the health and societal burden of cognitive decline. Similar content being viewed

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Title: Magnitude and predictors of mild cognitive impairment among older populations in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Sintayehu Asnakew (Corresponding Author) - Debre Tabor University
Jessica Nealon - University of Wollongong
Ayele Semachew Kasa - Bahir Dar University
Gashaw Walle Ayehu - Debre Tabor University
Dejen Getaneh Feleke - Debre Tabor University
Tigabu Munye Aytenew - Debre Tabor University
Victoria Traynor - University of Wollongong
Publication details: Translational Psychiatry, Vol.15(1), pp.1-20
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03620-z
ISSN: 2158-3188
PMID: 41073382
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Data Availability: All the data and supplementary materials were included in the manuscript.
Organisation Unit: Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Health - Nursing
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991173345902621
Output Type: Journal article

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