Prevalence and participant characteristics associated with subjective memory complaint: Results from the Maule Cohort

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundSubjective memory complaints (SMC) are common in later life and have been associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. While there is much interest in SMC globally, no population‐based studies from South America have reported SMC prevalence.MethodData for this analysis was drawn from the Maule Cohort (MAUCO), a population‐based prospective cohort of Molina, Chile residents aged 35‐74 at baseline. MAUCO participants were stratified at age 60. Presence of SMC was determined by the questions “Does your memory fail frequently? Or Do you forget events, even recent, or some appointments?” Prevalence of SMC was estimated within age groups. Logistic regression was performed within age groups to evaluate factors associated with SMC.ResultsMost participants were female (56%), married (66%), with ≤ 8 years of education (49%), and reported good health (39%). There were 6,203 participants aged < 60, and 2,517 aged ≥ 60. Prevalence of SMC was 16% and 24%, respectively. Within age groups, characteristics of participants who reported SMC were different. Among those age < 60, those who reported SMC were more likely to use antidepressants, but this was not the case among the older group. In both age groups, those who reported SMC had significantly higher polypharmacy, higher anticholinergic burden, and higher use of benzodiazepines. Logistic regression analysis showed that for the age < 60 group, being female, having bad self‐reported health (OR=2.4; 95% CI 1.4‐4.3), depression (OR=1.5; 1.1‐1.9), major depressive syndrome on PHQ‐9 (OR=3.0; 2.2‐4.1) and MMSE score (OR=0.97; 0.94‐0.99) were significantly associated with SMC. However, in the older group, only the history of cancer (OR=2.0; 1.1‐3.8), major depressive syndrome on PHQ‐9 (OR=2.7; 1.6‐4.7), depressive symptoms on PHQ‐9 (OR 1.50; 1.03‐2.15), and MMSE score (OR=0.92; 0.89‐0.94) were associated with odds of SMC. In the adjusted models, neither polypharmacy, use of benzodiazepines, nor high anticholinergic burden were significant in any of the models for the younger or older groups.ConclusionSMC was common in both younger and older MAUCO participants. SMC may be associated with different factors in younger vs. older adults, but was associated with objective cognitive function (MMSE) in both groups.