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Prevalence and Predictors of “Subjective Cognitive Complaints” in the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

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Objectives

To document the prevalence of self- and informant report of cognitive problems, usually referred to as “subjective cognitive complaints” (SCCs), in a community-dwelling sample of older adults and to examine the relationship between SCCs and objective impairment, mood, and personality measures.

Participants

Eight hundred twenty-seven nondemented community-dwelling adults aged 70–90 years.

Measurements

Participants were asked 24 SCC questions, including the Memory Complaint Questionnaire (MAC-Q), and completed neuropsychological testing in the domains of memory, language, executive function, visuospatial skills, and psychomotor speed. The Geriatric Depression Scale, Goldberg Anxiety Scale, and Neuroticism, Openness, and Conscientiousness from the NEO-Five Factor Inventory were used as measures of participants' psychological status. Informants completed 19 SCC questions, including a modified short Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE).

Results

Overall, 95.5% of participants or their informants endorsed at least one SCC. Although participants were more likely to endorse a memory complaint, informants seemed more accurate in endorsing a complaint when cognitive impairment was objectively present. SCC correlated with participants' scores on measures of depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and inversely with measures of openness and conscientiousness. Age, education, and sex had little impact on these effects. Regression analysis showed that psychological factors explained the number of complaints more than cognitive performance.

Conclusions

The usefulness of SCCs as a criterion for mild cognitive impairment is questioned because of their high prevalence and their relationship to psychological factors. This may be helpful for clinicians to bear in mind when presented with patients with cognitive complaints.

Section snippets

Participants

Eight thousand nine hundred fourteen individuals aged 70–90 years listed on the electoral roll in eastern Sydney, Australia, were invited to participate in the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study. Seven thousand one hundred forty-two either did not respond or declined participation; the remaining 1,772 were contacted by telephone to confirm eligibility. Seven hundred thirty-five of these individuals were either ineligible or declined after further information about the study. The final sample,

RESULTS

Overall, 95.5% of participants or their informants endorsed at least one SCC. At least one memory complaint was endorsed by 89.5% of participants and 64.2% of informants, and at least one nonmemory complaint was endorsed by 70.4% of participants and 32.5% of informants. On average, participants endorsed 30.2% of the memory complaint questions and 14.7% of the nonmemory complaint questions, and informants endorsed 20.8% of the memory complaint questions and 11% of the nonmemory complaint

DISCUSSION

In this article, we have described reports of cognitive problems by nondemented community-dwelling elderly individuals and their “informants.” We have referred to these reports as “subjective complaints” for ease of reading and in keeping with the literature. Petersen1 mentions informant report in the diagnostic criteria for MCI in stating “memory complaint, preferably corroborated by an informant” (p 185; our italics). The International Working Group consensus criteria2 mention “subjective

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    Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's Web site (www.AJGPonline.org).

    The authors thank all participants in the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (MAS), and the MAS Research Team.

    This work was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Program Grant (350833) and Capacity Building Grant (568940).

    An earlier version of this work was presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, July 26–31, 2008, Chicago, IL.

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