Clinical characteristics of individuals with subjective memory loss in Western Australia: results from a cross-sectional survey.
Subjective memory complaint is common in later life. Its relationship to future risk of dementia is unclear, although many reports have found a positive association. We designed the present cross-sectional survey to investigate the clinical features associated with subjective memory impairment. One hundred and eight volunteers and 38 non-complainers acting as age-matched controls were recruited. Eleven subjects with memory complaints were excluded because of prior stroke or low MMSE score. The CAMCOG was used to measure cognition; complainers had significantly lower scores (p<0.001). Univariate analysis showed that complainers had greater prevalence of depression, anxiety, insomnia, psychotic phenomenon, difficulties with ADL and word-finding difficulties. The frequency distribution of the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele was similar for both groups (p=0.469). Logistic regression analysis indicated that CAMCOG scores (p=0.002) and word-finding difficulty (p=0.002) were independently associated with memory complaints. These results show that memory complainers have worse cognitive performance than non-complainers and support the findings of other studies that suggest that subjective memory loss may be a reliable indicator of cognitive decline.
Department of Rehabilitation and Aged Care, Osborne Park Hospital, Australia. clarnett@medeserv.com.au
R M
RM
Clarnette
O P
OP
Almeida
H
H
Forstl
A
A
Paton
R N
RN
Martins
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012306:Risk; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology
D001057:Apolipoproteins E