Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan-Mar;2(1):42-45.
doi: 10.1590/S1980-57642009DN20100009.

Subjective memory complaints and cognitive performance in a sample of healthy elderly

Paulo Caramelli  1 , Rogério Gomes Beato  1
Affiliations

Subjective memory complaints and cognitive performance in a sample of healthy elderly

Paulo Caramelli et al. Dement Neuropsychol. 2008 Jan-Mar.

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

Memory loss is a major complaint among the elderly population. However, the clinical significance of this symptom is variable and also controversial in the scientific literature.

Objective: To compare the cognitive performance of two groups of healthy elderly, one group with and the other without, subjective memory complaints (SMC).

Methods: Sixty cognitively intact elderly individuals (39 females and 21 males), aged 69.9±6.3 years and with educational level of 8.5±5.5 years, were included in the study. Participants were submitted to the Mini-Mental State Examination and to the Cornell depression scale in order to rule out global cognitive impairment and depression, respectively. Moreover, they answered the MAC-Q, a questionnaire devised to evaluate subjective impression of memory function. Subsequently, they were submitted to the digit span forward and backward, the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, and to the Frontal Assessment Battery.

Results: Twenty-seven individuals had MAC-Q scores <25 and thus were classified as not having SMC, while 33 had MAC-Q scores ≥25 and were considered to have SMC. No differences for age, gender, education and MMSE scores were found between the two groups. The comparison between the performance of the groups of complainers and non-complainers on the different cognitive tests yielded no significant difference, although there was a trend toward non-complainers performing better on incidental memory.

Conclusions: The presence of SMC was not associated to objective memory impairment or to other cognitive deficits in this group of elderly individuals.

Perda de memória é uma queixa freqüente na população idosa. Entretanto, seu significado clínico é variável e controverso na literatura científica.

Objetivo: Comparar o desempenho cognitivo de dois grupos de idosos saudáveis, um com e outro sem queixas subjetivas de memória.

Métodos: Sessenta idosos sem comprometimento cognitivo (39 mulheres e 21 homens), com idade de 69,9±6,3 anos e com escolaridade de 8,5±5,5 anos, foram incluídos no estudo. Todos foram submetidos ao Mini-Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM) e à Escala de Depressão de Cornell para exclusão, respectivamente, de comprometimento cognitivo global e de depressão. Também responderam ao MAC-Q, questionário elaborado para avaliar a impressão subjetiva do funcionamento da memória. Posteriormente, eles foram submetidos aos testes extensão de dígitos em ordem direta e inversa, à Bateria Breve de Rastreio Cognitivo e à Bateria de Avaliação Frontal.

Resultados: Vinte sete idosos tiveram escores <25 no MAC-Q e foram, portanto, classificados como não tendo queixas, enquanto 33 tiveram >25 pontos no questionário e foram considerados como tendo queixas. Não houve diferenças entre os dois grupos em relação à idade, gênero, escolaridade e pontuações no MEEM. A comparação entre o desempenho dos idosos com e sem queixas nos diferentes testes não revelou diferenças significativas, embora tenha sido observada tendência para que os sem queixas tivessem melhor desempenho de memória incidental.

Conclusões: A presença de queixas subjetivas de memória não esteve associada a déficits objetivos de memória ou de outras funções cognitivas neste grupo de idosos saudáveis.

Keywords: aging; cognition; memory; neuropsychological tests.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Jonker C, Geerlings MI, Schmand B. Are memory complaints predictive for dementia? A review of clinical and population-based studies. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2000;15:983–991. - PubMed
    1. Reid LM, Maclullich AM. Subjective memory complaints and cognitive impairment in older people. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2006;22:471–485. - PubMed
    1. Petersen RC, Stevens JC, Ganguli M, Tangalos EG, Cummings JL, DeKosky ST. Practice parameter: early detection of dementia: mild cognitive impairment (an evidence-based review). Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2001;56:1133–1142. - PubMed
    1. Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Boyle PA, Bienias JL, Bennett DA. Memory complaints are related to Alzheimer disease pathology in older persons. Neurology. 2006;67:1581–1585. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Minett TS, Da Silva RV, Ortiz KZ, Bertolucci PH. Subjective memory complaints in an elderly sample: a cross-sectional study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008;23:49–54. - PubMed