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Self-rating and objective memory testing of normal and depressed elderly

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Abstract

This study aimed to assess the relationships between the scores of subjective assessment (metamemory) and those of performance testing for memory, on the one hand, and the level of depression, on the other. A hundred and eighty elderly subjects (102 women and 78 men; mean age 65.7 years) were selected for the study. They showed neither intellectual impairment (as assessed through Mini Mental State test: MMS) nor neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT) for performance testing, the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) for the subjective assessment, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A MULTCOVA analysis showed that both age and the depression level are negatively correlated with both the measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) of the RMT. The scores of the second (memory complaints) of the three sets of SMS were positively correlated with those of AR and DM indices. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that in males age and the depression level were significant regressors for both AR and MD scores while in females only the depression level was a significant regressor for AR and only age was a significant regressor for DM. Our results suggest that a) the relationships between the depression level and memory functioning are close, although not fully homogeneous in men and women; and b) that the scores in some areas of metamemory parallel, independently of the level of depression, the performance outcomes of memory functioning. (Aging 2: 39–48, 1990)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Facoltà di Medicina, Università di Modena, Via Campi 287, 41100, Modena, Italy

    Carlo Cipolli & M. Pinelli

  2. Institute of Geriatrics, Modena, Italy

    M. Neri & E. Andermarcher

  3. Department of Economics, University of Modena, Modena, Italy

    M. Lalla

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  1. Carlo Cipolli
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  2. M. Neri
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  3. E. Andermarcher
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  4. M. Pinelli
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  5. M. Lalla
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Cipolli, C., Neri, M., Andermarcher, E. et al. Self-rating and objective memory testing of normal and depressed elderly. Aging Clin Exp Res 2, 39–48 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03323893

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