Prospective and retrospective memory complaints in early and late stages of amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundMemory complaints are a frequent phenomenon in elderly people. These subjective memory complaints are a cardinal feature of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) known as the first symptomatic stage of Alzheimer's disease. The objective of this study was to compare memory complaints and determine whether there were differences of types of memory complaints (i.e. prospective memory (PM) versus retrospective memory (RM) complaints) in early‐stage aMCI (EMCI) and late‐stage aMCI (LMCI).MethodOne‐hundred and twenty‐two aMCI subjects (mean age: 70.07 ± 8.54 years) were divided into EMCI (n = 72) and LMCI (n = 50) according to their Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes score. Memory complaints were assessed using the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) consisting of 16 items that describe everyday memory failure of both PM and RM. All participants underwent clinical assessment and completed detailed neuropsychological tests. Group comparisons of types of memory complaints were assessed between EMCI and LMCI subjects.ResultLMCI subjects showed more subjective memory complaints based on PRMQ total sores than EMCI subjects. For types of memory complaints, LMCI group showed more RM complaints by PRMQ‐RM scores than EMCI group, but there were no differences of PM complaints between two groups. The results for PRMQ total scores and PRMQ‐RM scores remained significant after adjusting for age, education, and depressive symptoms.ConclusionLMCI showed more RM complaints than EMCI among subjective memory complaints. There might be differences in types of memory complaints according to disease stage of clinical spectrum of MCI. Therefore, more consideration for types of memory complaints might be needed in the clinical correlation of individuals with MCI.