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Prevalence and participant characteristics associated with subjective memory complaint: Results from the Maule Cohort
Author(s) -
OyarzunGonzalez Ximena,
Toro Pablo,
Abner Erin L,
Ferreccio Catterina
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.046386
Subject(s) - medicine , cohort , logistic regression , demography , depression (economics) , polypharmacy , dementia , population , cohort study , gerontology , anticholinergic , disease , environmental health , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Background Subjective 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. Method Data 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. Results Most 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. Conclusion SMC 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.