The usefulness of evaluating performance of activities of daily living in the diagnosis of mild cognitive disorders

This chapter focuses on the how an evaluation of activities of daily living (ADL) can underpin a diagnosis in mild cognitive disorders. This should start by exploring the patient’s activity capital since the number of activities differs between cognitively healthy older adults, persons with mild cognitive impairment, and persons with (mild) dementia, with the first performing more activities than the last. Subsequently, in-depth information about how ADLs are performed should be collected since certain activities are more sensitive to cognitive decline than others, and a degradation of functional abilities occurs in a stepwise and hierarchical manner, with basic ADLs being affected after instrumental and advanced ADLs. Finally, the extent of limitations and underlying causes should be clarified since other causes, such as comorbidities or physical impairments, are often seen in old age.