J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.  2014 Apr;18(1):1-8.

Group Differences in Subjective Memory Complaint Content: Late Life Depression and Mild Cognitive Impairment

• Cho EY
• Lee JY
• Lim AY
• Youn JH

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the group differences in contents of subjective memory problem and objective cognitive functions in late life depression and mild cognitive impairment.
METHODS
40 participants were classified into three groups [normal, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and depression]. Differences in subjective memory complaints were examined using the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire. And the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease-Korean version neuropsychological assessment battery results were used for evaluating objective cognitive functions. Group differences were analyzed ANCOVA analysis.
RESULTS
In post-hoc analysis, the questions "Do you fail to recognize a character in a radio or television show from scene to scene?" and "Do you forget something that you told a few minute before?" were significantly able to discriminate between the MCI and normal groups. In post-hoc analysis, late life depression group showed significantly higher score on the question "Do you intend to take something with you, before leaving a room or going out, but minutes later leave it behind, even though it's there in front of you?".
CONCLUSION
The result demonstrates the presence of differences in the contents of subjective memory complaints according to groups. Subjectively reported memory complaints in MCI group are related to deficits in learning new information. In late life depression, memory complaints are more related to difficulty in executive functions.

Keyword

Mild cognitive impairment; Depressive symptom; Self report; Neuropsychological tests

MeSH Terms

Depression*
Executive Function
Learning
Memory*
Mild Cognitive Impairment*
Neuropsychological Tests
Prospective Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Retrospective Studies
Self Report
Television