Lima-Silva Thaís Bento, Yassuda Mônica Sanches
Undergraduate student in Gerontology at EACH-USP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
PhD, Assistant professor of Gerontology at EACH-USP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Dement Neuropsychol. 2009 Apr-Jun;3(2):94-100. doi: 10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30200005.
Normal aging can be characterized by a gradual decline in some cognitive functions, such as memory. Memory complaints are common among older adults, and may indicate depression, anxiety, or cognitive decline.
To investigate the association between memory complaints and age in cognitively unimpaired older adults, and the relationship between memory complaints and memory performance.
Cognitive screening tests as well as memory complaint questionnaires validated for the Brazilian population were used: the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Memory Complaint Questionnaire (MAC-Q), Memory test of 18 pictures, Forward and Backward Digit Span (WAIS-III). Fifty seven regular members of the SESC social club participated (50 women), having a mean age of 71.4 years, and 4 to 8 years of education - 34 from 4 to 7 years and 23 with 8 years of education.
Results revealed no significant association between cognitive complaints and age or cognitive performance. Older participants in this sample did not show worse performance or a higher level of complaints. There was no significant association between age and GDS scores.
The studied sample constitutes a particular group of older adults whose participation in activities may be protecting them from cognitive decline, thus highlighting the impact of lifestyle on cognitive performance during the aging process.
正常衰老的特征可能是某些认知功能逐渐衰退，比如记忆力。记忆方面的困扰在老年人中很常见，可能预示着抑郁、焦虑或认知能力下降。
调查认知功能未受损的老年人中记忆困扰与年龄之间的关联，以及记忆困扰与记忆表现之间的关系。
使用了经过巴西人群验证的认知筛查测试以及记忆困扰问卷：简易精神状态检查表（MMSE）、老年抑郁量表（GDS）、记忆困扰问卷（MAC-Q）、18张图片记忆测试、顺背和倒背数字广度测试（韦氏成人智力量表第三版，WAIS-III）。SESC社交俱乐部的57名正式成员参与了研究（50名女性），平均年龄71.4岁，受教育年限为4至8年——34人受教育4至7年，23人受教育8年。
结果显示认知困扰与年龄或认知表现之间无显著关联。该样本中年龄较大的参与者并未表现出更差的表现或更高水平的困扰。年龄与GDS得分之间无显著关联。
所研究的样本构成了一组特殊的老年人，他们参与活动可能使他们免受认知能力下降的影响，从而凸显了生活方式在衰老过程中对认知表现的影响。
