BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common mental disorder affecting around 16% of elderly people without dementia. MCI is considered an intermediate state between normal cognition and dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze risk factors for the development of MCI in German primary care practices.

METHODS: In total, 3,604 MCI patients and 3,604 controls without MCI were included between January 2010 and December 2015. Several disorders potentially associated with MCI were determined. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted with MCI as a dependent variable and other disorders as potential predictors.

RESULTS: The mean age was 75.2 years and 45.3% of patients were men. MCI development was found to be associated with 12 disorders: intracranial injury, anxiety disorder, depression, mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use, stroke, hyperlipidemia, obesity, hypertension, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorder, coronary heart disease, and diabetes with odds ratios ranging from 1.13 (diabetes) to 2.27 (intracranial injury).

CONCLUSION: Intracranial injury, anxiety, and depression showed the strongest association with MCI. Further analyses are needed to gain a better understanding of the MCI risk factors.