Self-reports on memory functioning in a longitudinal study of the oldest old: relation to current, prospective, and retrospective performance.
Self-evaluation of memory performance, one aspect of metamemory, may be an important indicator of concurrent, retrospective, or future decline in memory functioning. The relationships among self-evaluations, cognition, and outcome were investigated in the OCTO study, a longitudinal, population-based panel of the oldest old. Using concurrent data, results indicated that overall cognitive ability, depression, gender, and education were associated with self-reports of memory for the entire sample. The relation of perception of decline to actual decline was also examined. Self-reported decline over a 2-year period was associated with actual decline in performance on three tests of memory. Finally, self-reported memory function was investigated as an indicator of future cognitive decline and diagnosis of dementia. These self-evaluations predicted decline on specific tests of memory over 2 years and subsequent diagnosis of dementia after 2 and 4 years. The amount of variance accounted for by self-evaluations, however, was relatively small, suggesting that complaints reflect different processes, only one of which is the pathological decline involved in dementia.
Johansson
B
B
Institute of Gerontology, University College of Health Sciences, Jönköping, Sweden.
Allen-Burge
R
R
Zarit
S H
SH
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012647:Self-Assessment