Pn. Wang et al., Subjective memory complaint in relation to cognitive performance and depression: A longitudinal study of a rural Chinese population, J AM GER SO, 48(3), 2000, pp. 295-299
Citations number
30
Categorie Soggetti
Public Health & Health Care Science","General & Internal Medicine
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.