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

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 67.5 years) were selected for the study. They showed neither intellectual impairments (as assessed through Mini Mental State test: MMS) nor neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT) for performance testing, he 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 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, the 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 DM. Overall the results suggest: (a) that 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 parallelize, independently on the level of depression, the performance outcomes of memory functioning.