Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26315317›Full record

SynthesisThe Gerontologist2015

Living With Ambiguity: A Metasynthesis of Qualitative Research on Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Tim Gomersall, Arlene Astell, Louise Nygård, Andrew Sixsmith, Alex Mihailidis, Amy Hwang

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The Gerontologist, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Staff-rated ability to provide post-diagnosis support for patients with mild cognitive impairment and related factors.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2023
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. A Qualitative Exploration of the Needs of Community-Dwelling Patients Living with Moderate Dementia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tim GomersallSchool of Health & Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. nina.sperber@duke.edu.
Arlene AstellSchool of Health & Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Louise NygårdDepartment of Neurobiology, Care Sciences, and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Andrew SixsmithDepartment of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.
Alex MihailidisToronto Rehabilitation Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Amy HwangToronto Rehabilitation Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purpose of the studyMild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a diagnosis proposed to describe an intermediate state between normal cognitive aging and dementia. MCI has been criticised for its conceptual fuzziness, its ambiguous relationship to dementia, and the tension it creates between medical and sociological understandings of "normal aging". DESIGN AND

methodsWe examined the published qualitative literature on experiences of being diagnosed and living with MCI using metasynthesis as the methodological framework.

resultsTwo overarching conceptual themes were developed. The first, MCI and myself-in-time, showed that a diagnosis of MCI could profoundly affect a person's understanding of their place in the world. This impact appears to be mediated by multiple factors including a person's social support networks, which daily activities are affected, and subjective interpretations of the meaning of MCI. The second theme, Living with Ambiguity, describes the difficulties people experienced in making sense of their diagnosis. Uncertainty arose, in part, from lack of clarity and consistency in the information received by people with MCI, including whether they are even told MCI is the diagnosis. IMPLICATIONS: We conclude by suggesting an ethical tension is always at play when a MCI diagnosis is made. Specifically, earlier support and services afforded by a diagnosis may come at the expense of a person's anxiety about the future, with continued uncertainty about how his or her concerns and needs can be addressed.

Indexed as

MemoryActivities of Daily LivingAged, 80 and overAgingCognitionCognitive DysfunctionDementiaFemaleHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHumansMaleQualitative ResearchQuality of LifeSocial SupportAttitudes and perception toward aging/agedCognitionDementiaEthics (research, practice, policy, individual choices)Qualitative research methodsSociology of aging/social gerontologyWell-being

Identifiers

PMID26315317
PMCPMC4580312

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.