Abstract
BackgroundThere is increased focus on early diagnosis of dementia, and subjective awareness of memory impairment is often assumed to be an early symptom of dementia. Subjective memory impairment (SMI) is used to describe subjective awareness of memory problems in the elderly after identifiable diseases which include this symptom are excluded. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to examine the occurrence of SMI in a general adult population and its association with education level, subjective health, anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life.MethodsNine items about memory were included in the questionnaire for participants aged 30+ in the large population based HUNT Study(2006–08). Health data, such as global health, symptoms of anxiety and depression and satisfaction with life in addition to level of education was collected. Stratified analyses were used to study gender differences in SMI sum score. Cohen’s d was measured as an effect size. One-way ANOVA followed by a Tukey post-hoc test was used to test the association between SMI sum score and each category of gender, age, education, global health and satisfaction with life. Bivariate correlation between symptoms of anxiety and depression and SMI were tested and finally the association between SMI sum score and age, gender, education level, subjective health and symptoms of depression and anxiety was tested in a linear regression model.ResultsNearly half of the participants (n=37,405: 44.6% women, 46.2% men) reported minor memory problems. Severe problems were reported by 1.2% of women and 1.6% of men. Remembering names and dates were the most frequent problems, and they increased with age. In eight out of nine items, more men than women reported memory problems. Elevated SMI was associated with poor self-perceived global health, symptoms of anxiety and depression and low education in both men and women and in all age groups.ConclusionMinor subjective memory problems were very common, and SMI was clearly associated with health measures and with level of education. The relatively strong association between SMI and symptoms of depression might be of clinical interest. The reason for men reporting more memory problems than women remains unexplained.
Highlights
There is increased focus on early diagnosis of dementia, and subjective awareness of memory impairment is often assumed to be an early symptom of dementia
We cannot outline the cause-effect relationship in either of these cases, but the results clearly demonstrate that Subjective memory impairment (SMI) measured in the The Nord-Trøndelag health study (HUNT) Study was a relevant health measure
The findings in the present study should be tested in other populations, and prospective studies might reveal how important the recorded memory complaints are as precursors of impaired cognition. This cross-sectional study demonstrates that when SMI was measured with the nine items of the Metamemory Questionnaire, minor problems were frequently reported, even in young age groups, but only a few reported severe memory problems
Summary
There is increased focus on early diagnosis of dementia, and subjective awareness of memory impairment is often assumed to be an early symptom of dementia. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to examine the occurrence of SMI in a general adult population and its association with education level, subjective health, anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life. Subjective memory impairment (SMI) is used to describe subjective awareness of memory problems in the elderly after identifiable diseases which include this symptom are excluded. A related condition, amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), is subjective memory loss confirmed by close relatives and neuropsychological assessment. The terms SMI and aMCI are related, except for the difference of SMI expressing subjective memory problems while aMCI includes objective confirmation of impaired memory. The associations between SMI and anxiety and depression have been demonstrated in previous studies (Balash et al 2013; Slavin et al 2010)
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