MEMORY COMPLAINT AS A PREDICTOR OF COGNITIVE DECLINE - A COMPARISON OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE ELDERS

Of a representative, racially mixed community sample of older adults i n North Carolina, 59% of Whites and 49% of African Americans reported worsening memory. The complaint about memory was positively correlated with age, depressive symptomatology, and physical function but not wi th level of cognitive function as measured by the Short Portable Menta l Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) at baseline. In a controlled analysis o f longitudinal data, initial SPMSQ score, age, African American race, lower education, depressive symptomatology, and physical deficits at b aseline, but not memory complaint, predicted a decline in cognitive fu nction as measured by the SPMSQ 3 years later. Whereas African America ns were less likely to complain of deterioration in memory, actual dec line as measured by the SPMSQ was greater for African Americans than f or Whites.