title: Subjective cognitive decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults: association with personality traits.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In normal aging, subjective cognitive decline (SCD) might reflect personality traits or affective states rather than objective cognitive decline. However, little is known on the correlates of SCD in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The present study investigates SCD in MCI patients and healthy older adults, and explores the association of SCD with personality traits, affective states, behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPS), and episodic memory in patients with MCI as compared with healthy older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 55 patients with MCI and 84 healthy older adults were recruited. Standard instruments were used to evaluate SCD, episodic memory, BPS and affective states. Premorbid and current personality traits were assessed by proxies using the NEO Personality Inventory Revised.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with MCI generally reported SCD more often than healthy older adults. SCD was positively associated with depressive symptoms in both groups. With regard to personality, no significant relationship was found in the healthy older group, whereas agreeableness was significantly negatively related to SCD in the MCI group. No significant association was found between SCD and episodic memory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SCD is more prevalent in patients with MCI than in the healthy elderly, but it does not reflect an objective cognitive impairment. SCD rather echoes depressive symptoms in both patients with MCI and healthy subjects. The negative association of SCD with agreeableness observed in patients with MCI could indicate that MCI patients scoring high on the agreeableness trait would not report SCD in order to prevent their relatives worrying about their increasing cognitive difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Service of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donati
authors.forename: Julius
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Popp
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Gunten
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4
keywords: behavioral and psychological symptoms; episodic memory; mild cognitive impairment; personality; subjective cognitive decline