MEMORY COMPLAINTS AND MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN OLDER INDIVIDUALS

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether subjective memory complaints, measured w ith a series of four questions, are associated with performance on cog nitive tests. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of individuals, 65 to 85 y ears of age, who lived in the community of Amsterdam. PARTICIPANTS: In dividuals were selected randomly within 5-year age strata from the pat ient lists of 30 general practitioners. Of the 4051 participants, 2537 nondepressed and nondemented respondents were included in the analysi s. MEASURES: Four categories of subjective memory complaints were deve loped on the basis of answers to questions about the presence or absen ce of memory complaints and memory-related problems in daily functioni ng. Tests of cognitive function were derived from the subscales of the CAMCOG. MAIN RESULTS: Individuals with complaints and memory-related problems performed more poorly on tests of memory and memory-related f unctions. This relationship was strengthened after adjusting for age, sex, and premorbid verbal intelligence, all of which were related to c omplaint status and to performance on cognitive tests. CONCLUSION: Sim ple questions about memory function are related to memory performance in nondepressed, nondemented community-dwelling older people. Subjecti ve memory complaints map be a promising indicator of memory impairment that signals the need for follow-up.