Relazioni fra livelli di depressione e misure soggettive ed obiettive di memoria nell’anziano

The influence of depression on the functioning of long-term memory in the elderly is not completely known. The study aimed to assess the relationship 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. 180 elderly subjects (102 women and 78 men; mean age 67.5 yr) were selected for this study. They were all without intellectual impairment (as assessed through MMS) and neuropsychiatric symptoms. The Randt Memory Test (RMT) for performance testing, the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) for the subjective assessment, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered to each subject. A multiple regression analysis showed that the level of depression was inversely correlated with both the measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR, Delayed Memory: DM) of RMT, and that, with the same level of depression, men’ scores for AR and DM were slightly lower than those of women. The age appeared inversely correlated only with AR scores. The scores of the second (memory complaints) of the three sets of SMS were positively correlated with those of AR and MD indices. Overall the results suggest: (a) that the relationships between not clinical relevant levels of depression and different indices of memory functioning are substantial in the elderly, 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.