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

Caramelli, Paulo; Beato, Rogério Gomes

doi:10.1590/S1980-57642009DN20100009

Abstract

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 ³25 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.

Key words:
aging; memory; cognition; neuropsychological tests

Resumo

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.

Palavras-chave:
envelhecimento; memória; cognição; testes neuropsicológicos

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the subjects who kindly agreed to participate in the study. This investigation was partly supported by a grant from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) to Paulo Caramelli.

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.
²
Reid LM, Maclullich AM. Subjective memory complaints and cognitive impairment in older people. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2006;22:471-85.
³
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.
⁴
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.
⁵
Minett TS, Da Silva RV, Ortiz KZ, Bertolucci PH. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2008;23:49-54.
⁶
Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR. "Mini-mental State": a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 1975;12:189-198.
⁷
Brucki SMD, Nitrini R, Caramelli P, Bertolucci PHF, Okamoto IH. Suggestions for utilization of the mini-mental state examination in Brazil Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2003;61:777-781.
⁸
Alexopoulos GS, Abrams RC, Young RC, Shamoian CA. Use of the Cornell scale in nondemented patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1988;36:230-236.
⁹
Carthery-Goulart MT, Areza-Fegyveres R, Schultz RR, et al. Brazilian version of the Cornell depression scale in dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2007;65:912-915.
¹⁰
Nitrini R, Caramelli P. Demências. In: R Nitrini, LA Bacheschi, editors. A neurologia que todo médico deve saber, 2ª ed. São Paulo: Atheneu; 2003:323-334.
¹¹
Nitrini R, Lefèvre BH, Mathias SC, et al. Neuropsychological tests of simple application for diagnosing dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 1994;52:457-465.
¹²
Nitrini R, Caramelli P, Porto CS, et al. Brief cognitive battery in the diagnosis of mild Alzheimer's disease in subjects with medium and high levels of education. Dem Neuropsychol 2007;1:32-36.
¹³
Dubois B, Slachevsky A, Litvan I, Pillon B. The FAB: A Frontal Assessment Battery at bedside. Neurology 2000;55:1621-1626.
¹⁴
Beato RG, Nitrini R, Formigoni AP, Caramelli P. Brazilian version of the frontal assessment battery (FAB): preliminary data on administration to healthy elderly. Dem Neuropsychol 2007;1:59-65.
¹⁵
Nitrini R, Caramelli P, Herrera E Jr, et al. Performance of illiterate and literate nondemented elderly subjects in two tests of long-term memory. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004;10:634-638.
¹⁶
Takada LT, Caramelli P, Fichman HC, et al. Comparison between two tests of delayed recall for the diagnosis of dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2006;64:35-40.
¹⁷
Crook TH 3rd, Feher EP, Larrabee GJ. Assessment of memory complaint in age-associated memory impairment: the MAC-Q. Int Psychogeriatr 1992;4:165-176.
¹⁸
Mattos P, Lino V, Rizo L, Alfano A, Araújo C, Raggio R. Memory complaints and test performance in healthy elderly persons. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2003;61:920-924.
¹⁹
Almeida OP. Memory complaints and the diagnosis of dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 1998;56:412-418.
²⁰
Minett TS, Dean JL, Firbank M, English P, O'Brien JT. Subjective memory complaints, white-matter lesions, depressive symptoms, and cognition in elderly patients. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2005;13:665-671.
²¹
Glodzik-Sobanska L, Reisberg B, De Santi S, et al. Subjective memory complaints: presence, severity and future outcome in normal older subjects. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2007;24:177-184.
²²
Coley N, Ousset PJ, Andrieu S, Matheix Fortunet H, Vellas B. Memory complaints to the general practitioner: data from the guidage study. J Nutr Health Aging 2008;12:66S-72S.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Jan-Mar 2008

History

Received
30 Jan 2008
Reviewed
19 Feb 2008
Accepted
19 Feb 2008

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

[1] 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.

[2] ²
Reid LM, Maclullich AM. Subjective memory complaints and cognitive impairment in older people. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2006;22:471-85.

[3] ³
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.

[4] ⁴
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.

[5] ⁵
Minett TS, Da Silva RV, Ortiz KZ, Bertolucci PH. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2008;23:49-54.

[6] ⁶
Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR. "Mini-mental State": a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 1975;12:189-198.

[7] ⁷
Brucki SMD, Nitrini R, Caramelli P, Bertolucci PHF, Okamoto IH. Suggestions for utilization of the mini-mental state examination in Brazil Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2003;61:777-781.

[8] ⁸
Alexopoulos GS, Abrams RC, Young RC, Shamoian CA. Use of the Cornell scale in nondemented patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1988;36:230-236.

[9] ⁹
Carthery-Goulart MT, Areza-Fegyveres R, Schultz RR, et al. Brazilian version of the Cornell depression scale in dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2007;65:912-915.

[10] ¹⁰
Nitrini R, Caramelli P. Demências. In: R Nitrini, LA Bacheschi, editors. A neurologia que todo médico deve saber, 2ª ed. São Paulo: Atheneu; 2003:323-334.

[11] ¹¹
Nitrini R, Lefèvre BH, Mathias SC, et al. Neuropsychological tests of simple application for diagnosing dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 1994;52:457-465.

[12] ¹²
Nitrini R, Caramelli P, Porto CS, et al. Brief cognitive battery in the diagnosis of mild Alzheimer's disease in subjects with medium and high levels of education. Dem Neuropsychol 2007;1:32-36.

[13] ¹³
Dubois B, Slachevsky A, Litvan I, Pillon B. The FAB: A Frontal Assessment Battery at bedside. Neurology 2000;55:1621-1626.

[14] ¹⁴
Beato RG, Nitrini R, Formigoni AP, Caramelli P. Brazilian version of the frontal assessment battery (FAB): preliminary data on administration to healthy elderly. Dem Neuropsychol 2007;1:59-65.

[15] ¹⁵
Nitrini R, Caramelli P, Herrera E Jr, et al. Performance of illiterate and literate nondemented elderly subjects in two tests of long-term memory. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004;10:634-638.

[16] ¹⁶
Takada LT, Caramelli P, Fichman HC, et al. Comparison between two tests of delayed recall for the diagnosis of dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2006;64:35-40.

[17] ¹⁷
Crook TH 3rd, Feher EP, Larrabee GJ. Assessment of memory complaint in age-associated memory impairment: the MAC-Q. Int Psychogeriatr 1992;4:165-176.

[18] ¹⁸
Mattos P, Lino V, Rizo L, Alfano A, Araújo C, Raggio R. Memory complaints and test performance in healthy elderly persons. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2003;61:920-924.

[19] ¹⁹
Almeida OP. Memory complaints and the diagnosis of dementia. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 1998;56:412-418.

[20] ²⁰
Minett TS, Dean JL, Firbank M, English P, O'Brien JT. Subjective memory complaints, white-matter lesions, depressive symptoms, and cognition in elderly patients. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2005;13:665-671.

[21] ²¹
Glodzik-Sobanska L, Reisberg B, De Santi S, et al. Subjective memory complaints: presence, severity and future outcome in normal older subjects. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2007;24:177-184.

[22] ²²
Coley N, Ousset PJ, Andrieu S, Matheix Fortunet H, Vellas B. Memory complaints to the general practitioner: data from the guidage study. J Nutr Health Aging 2008;12:66S-72S.

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