DO COGNITIVE COMPLAINTS EITHER PREDICT FUTURE COGNITIVE DECLINE OR REFLECT PAST COGNITIVE DECLINE - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF AN ELDERLY COMMUNITY SAMPLE

Data from a two-wave longitudinal study of an elderly community sample were used to assess whether cognitive complaints either predict subse quent cognitive decline or reflect past cognitive decline. Cognitive c omplaints and cognitive functioning were assessed on two occasions thr ee and a half years apart. Cognitive complaints at Wave 1 were found n ot to predict future cognitive change on the Mini-Mental State Examina tion, an episodic memory test or a test of mental speed. Similarly, co gnitive complaints at Wave 2 were unrelated to past cognitive changes on these tests after statistically controlling for the effects of anxi ety and depression. Furthermore, cognitive complaints did not predict either mortality (after controlling for anxiety and depression) or fut ure dementia. These results are evidence against the inclusion of cogn itive complaints in diagnostic criteria for proposed disorders such as age-associated memory impairment, mild cognitive disorder and ageing- associated cognitive decline.