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. 2014 Sep;27(3):181-7.
doi: 10.1177/0891988714524628. Epub 2014 Mar 10.

Cognitive complaints correlate with depression rather than concurrent objective cognitive impairment in the successful aging evaluation baseline sample

Zvinka Z Zlatar  1 , Raeanne C Moore  2 , Barton W Palmer  2 , Wesley K Thompson  2 , Dilip V Jeste  2
Affiliations

Cognitive complaints correlate with depression rather than concurrent objective cognitive impairment in the successful aging evaluation baseline sample

Zvinka Z Zlatar et al. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: Whether subjective cognitive complaints are suggestive of depression or concurrent cognitive impairment in older adults without dementia remains unclear. The current study examined this question in a large (N = 1000), randomly selected, community-based sample of adults aged 51 to 99 years without a formal diagnosis of dementia (Successful AGing Evaluation [SAGE] study).

Methods: The modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) measured objective cognitive function, the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) measured subjective cognitive complaints, and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) measured depression. Spearman ρ correlations and linear regression models were conducted to examine the relationship among variables in the baseline SAGE sample.

Results: There was a weak association between TICS-m and CFQ scores (ρ = -.12); however, a moderate to large association was observed for CFQ and PHQ-9 (ρ = .44). Scores on the CFQ were not associated with TICS-m scores (β = -.03, P = .42) after controlling for PHQ-9 and variables of interest, such as age, gender, ethnicity, and physical functioning, while PHQ-9 was significantly associated with CFQ scores (β = .46, P < .001) after controlling for variables of interest.

Conclusions: Subjective cognitive complaints are more likely related to symptoms of depression rather than concurrent cognitive impairment in a large cross-section of community-dwelling adults without a formal diagnosis of dementia.

Keywords: aging; cognitive failures questionnaire (CFQ); cognitive function; depression; modified telephone interview for cognitive status (TICS-m); subjective cognitive complaints.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plot depicts the standardized scores for the modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m), the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ), and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire severity scores (PHQ-9) against age on the x-axis. A loess smoothed regression line was fitted to each measure. Darker shapes represent a larger number of observations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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