title: Memory complaints and test performance in healthy elderly persons.
abstract: In order to compare the use of a structured self-report questionnaire with direct questioning about memory problems, 71 healthy and independent aged individuals (63 women) from the community without risk factors for cognitive deficits were objectively asked about subjective memory complaints (SMC), given the Memory Complaint Questionnaire (MAC-Q) and then submitted to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). SMC positively correlated with higher scores on MAC-Q, although a significant percentage of the sample had SMC and lower scores on MAC-Q and also no SMC and higher scores on MAC-Q. Performance on RAVLT was significantly worse (p<0.05) for the group presenting SMC but not for the group with higher scores on the MAC-Q. We conclude that direct questioning maybe more clinically significant than a self report questionnaire, at least for elderly persons from the community without risk factors for cognitive decline or depression.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. mattos@attglobal.net
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mattos
authors.forename: Valéria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lino
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rizo
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alfano
authors.forename: Cátia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Ronir
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raggio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*