MEMORY COMPLAINTS IN EPILEPSY - CORRELATIONS WITH COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AND NEUROTICISM

Subjective memory functioning was assessed by a questionnaire in 102 p atients with epilepsy. Factor analysis of their responses yielded five factors: (1) Absentmindedness, (2) Retrieval, (3) Memory for Semantic Structures, (4) Childhood Memories and (5) Rote Memory. Scales repres enting the factors were constructed. On all scales, patients (n = 71) who had been specifically referred for an evaluation of subjective mem ory problems showed moderate to large differences from normal Controls (n = 111) in complaint scores, indicating adequate sensitivity of the scales to clinically significant complaint levels. By contrast, candi dates for epilepsy surgery (n = 31) resembled the Controls in their pe rceived memory status, showing a moderately elevated complaint level o n only one of the factor based scales. Relationships of subjective mem ory difficulties to performance on objective tests of memory and other relevant cognitive functions as well as neuroticism were examined. Th e two epilepsy groups were fairly similar in their test performance, b ut differed markedly in their subjective memory problems. Also, correl ational analysis revealed only a single weak correlation between cogni tive tests and subjective memory ratings. The present findings indicat e that there is no simple relationship between subjective evaluations of memory and test performance. Patients' memory complaints do not acc urately predict disturbances that can be measured on standard neuropsy chological tests. Such complaints may be related more to neuroticism. Also, psychosocial difficulties which may accompany chronic disorders in general may have to be invoked to account for memory complaints in people with epilepsy. The epilepsy itself does not appear to be a crit ical factor in producing memory complaints.