J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2002 Jul;41(4):706-712.

Subjective Memory Impairment, Cognitive Function, and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Community Dwelling Elderly Population

• Kim JM
• Shin IS
• Kim LJ
• Yoon JS
• Lee HY

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Research on the associated factors of subjective memory impairment(SMI) has reported conflicting findings. This study aimed to investigate the associations of SMI with objective cognitive function, depression, and various socio-demographic characteristics and to measure possible differences in cognitively impaired and intact elderly peoples.
METHODS
A community study of individuals aged 65 or over was conducted in Kwangju, South Korea. SMI was assessed by means of asking a single item question and its associations with cognitive function(Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination; MMSE-K), depression(Korean form of Geriatric Depression Scale), and socio-demographic factors were investigated. In addition, analyses were repeated for the cognitively impaired and intact samples separately.
RESULTS
Of 1,134 participants, 596(53%) were categorized as having SMI. Depression, lower score on MMSE-K, and past manual occupation were significantly associated with SMI. Further analyses for cognitively impaired and intact samples showed some different results. For the cognitively impaired sample(n=412), SMI was significantly associated with depression and past manual occupation. For the cognitively intact sample(n=722), depression, lower score on MMSE-K, and male gender were significantly associated factors.
CONCLUSION
Depression was consistently associated with SMI regardless of cognitive status. Other than depression, associated factor profiles differed between cognitively impaired and intact older populations.

Keyword

Subjective memory impairment(SMI); Cognitive function; Depression

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Cross-Sectional Studies*
Depression*
Gwangju
Humans
Korea
Male
Memory*
Occupations