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Both memory complaints and performance on memory tests are predictive of dementia onset. Memory complaints could be a manifestation of depression or memory loss, or both. Herein, we examine the influence of depressive symptoms and memory test performance on the relation of memory complaints to dementia onset. We analyze data from the Einstein Aging Study, a longitudinal community-based study of adults age 70+. Self-reported memory complaints were assessed at baseline using the previously validated Einstein Memory Complaint Questionnaire (EMCQ; 10 dichotomous indicators with scores ranging from 0 to 10). Memory was assessed at baseline using free recall (FR) from the picture version of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (pFCSRT). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Using a Cox model, we looked at the influence of EMCQ score, FR and GDS on time to dementia. Of 893 eligible participants, 71.2% were whites and 28.8% were African Americans (AA). 83 (9.3%) participants developed incident dementia after a mean follow-up of 4.3 years. After adjusting for demographic variables, EMCQ was associated with time to dementia in the entire sample, in whites and in AA with similar HR (Table, Model 1). Adjusting for GDS did not alter the associations (Model 2). Adjusting for FR attenuates the HRs from 1.5 to 1.3 in the entire sample (Model 3). Adjusting for GDS and FR does not alter the relationship of EMCQ on time to dementia; in this model results remain significant in the entire sample and whites but lose significance in AA (Model 4). Memory complaints predict time to dementia in a biracial sample. The effect of EMCQ is independent of depressive symptoms but related to memory. The EMCQ shares variance with FR but is independently associated with risk of dementia.
Garland et al. (Mon,) studied this question.