Subjective memory complaint in relation to cognitive performance and depression: A longitudinal study of a rural Chinese population

OBJECTIVES: To examine the associations of subjective memory complaint (SMC ) in old age with (a) objective test performance, (b) past and subsequent c ognitive decline, and (c) depression. DESIGN: A group of community residents were examined twice during a 3-year period. SETTING: Two townships on a rural Chinese islet. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 543 men and women aged 65 years and older. MEASUREMENTS: During each examination, neurologists interviewed and examine d all participants for dementia and asked the question, "Do you have troubl e with your memory?" In addition, research assistants administered (a) the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) to assess cognitive abiliti es, including long-term memory (LTM) and short-term memory (STM), and (b) t he Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Version (GDS-S) to assess symptoms of d epression. RESULTS: At each examination, almost half of the subjects acknowledged havi ng trouble with their memory (the SMC+ group). At both examinations, the SM C+ group scored significantly lower on the CASI and significantly higher on the GDS-S than the SMC- group. However, the presence of SMC was not associ ated with faster cognitive decline over the past or subsequent 3 years. The re were no consistent associations between SMC and the demographic variable s of age, gender, and education at the two examinations. Logistic regressio n analysis showed that SMC was associated with poorer memory test scores af ter controlling for gender, age, education, and depression. CONCLUSIONS: SMC was associated with poorer objective memory performance ev en after controlling the effect of depression and demographic data, but SMC did not predict faster cognitive decline or dementia over 3 years.