title: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: An Overview of Self-Report Measures Used Across 19 International Research Studies.
abstract: Research increasingly suggests that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in older adults, in the absence of objective cognitive dysfunction or depression, may be a harbinger of non-normative cognitive decline and eventual progression to dementia. Little is known, however, about the key features of self-report measures currently used to assess SCD. The Subjective Cognitive Decline Initiative (SCD-I) Working Group is an international consortium established to develop a conceptual framework and research criteria for SCD (Jessen et al., 2014, Alzheimers Dement 10, 844-852). In the current study we systematically compared cognitive self-report items used by 19 SCD-I Working Group studies, representing 8 countries and 5 languages. We identified 34 self-report measures comprising 640 cognitive self-report items. There was little overlap among measures- approximately 75% of measures were used by only one study. Wide variation existed in response options and item content. Items pertaining to the memory domain predominated, accounting for about 60% of items surveyed, followed by executive function and attention, with 16% and 11% of the items, respectively. Items relating to memory for the names of people and the placement of common objects were represented on the greatest percentage of measures (56% each). Working group members reported that instrument selection decisions were often based on practical considerations beyond the study of SCD specifically, such as availability and brevity of measures. Results document the heterogeneity of approaches across studies to the emerging construct of SCD. We offer preliminary recommendations for instrument selection and future research directions including identifying items and measure formats associated with important clinical outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center of CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, USA.|Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rabin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.|Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Colette M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Smart
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Paul K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Crane
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Amariglio
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center of CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Lorin M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.affiliation: Fundació ACE. Barcelona Alzheimer Treatment and Research Center, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mercé
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boada
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne and the Florey Institutes of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachel F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France.|Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France.|École Pratique des Hautes Études, Caen, France.|CHU de Caen, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Gaël
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chételat
authors.affiliation: Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, AP-HP, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France.|Centre des Maladies Cognitives et Comportementales, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), UMR-S975, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Kathryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Gifford
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Angela L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jefferson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.|German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jessen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Mindy J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lipton
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.|LIFE - Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luck
authors.affiliation: Cogstate, Ltd., Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maruff
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.|Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mielke
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Molinuevo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center of CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Farnia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Naeem
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France.|Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France.|École Pratique des Hautes Études, Caen, France.|CHU de Caen, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perrotin
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.|Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rami
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reisberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Dorene M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Rentz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffi G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Riedel-Heller
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Shannon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Risacher
authors.affiliation: Fundació ACE. Barcelona Alzheimer Treatment and Research Center, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Octavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Perminder S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Sachdev
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA.|Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Saykin
authors.affiliation: Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Melissa J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Slavin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Beth E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Snitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Reisa A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sperling
authors.affiliation: Centre des Maladies Cognitives et Comportementales, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), UMR-S975, Paris, France.|Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tandetnik
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer Center and Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wiesje M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: van der Flier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.|German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.|Clinical Treatment and Research Center for Neurodegenerative Disease (KBFZ), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.|German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolfsgruber
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer Center and Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sietske A M
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sikkes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cognition; cognitive complaints; dementia; early detection; memory complaints; mild cognitive impairment; preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; questionnaire; subjective cognition; subjective cognitive impairment; subjective memory complaints