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Immediate story recall in elderly individuals with memory complaints: how much does it contribute to memory assessment?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2015

Gabriel Coutinho ,
Cláudia Drummond ,
Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza ,
Jorge Moll ,
Fernanda Tovar-Moll  and
Paulo Mattos
Gabriel Coutinho*
Affiliation:
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Morphological Sciences Program (PCM), Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Cláudia Drummond
Affiliation:
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Morphological Sciences Program (PCM), Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza
Affiliation:
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNI-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Jorge Moll
Affiliation:
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fernanda Tovar-Moll
Affiliation:
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Morphological Sciences Program (PCM), Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Paulo Mattos
Affiliation:
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Morphological Sciences Program (PCM), Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB) Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Gabriel Coutinho Rua Diniz Cordeiro, 30, 2° andar, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22281–100, Brazil. Phone/Fax: 55 21 22953796. Email: gabrielccoutinho@gmail.com.
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Abstract

Background:

Prose memory tests exhibit ecological validity, but the influence of non-memory functions on immediate recall in elderly subjects with memory complaints has not been fully investigated. This study examined (1) whether the ability to immediately recall a story can distinguish among clinical controls, amnesic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and (2) which cognitive functions contribute to immediate recall performance.

Methods:

A total of 73 consecutive volunteers (50 women and 23 men) aged 47–88 (mean age = 71.85 ± 9.41) and with a mean schooling level of 12.51 (SD = 4.09) participated in the experiment. All individuals were seeking specialized evaluation because of memory complaints. Diagnoses were made by considering clinical, neuropsychological, and MRI assessments collected by a multidisciplinary team of neurologists, neuropsychologists, and speech-language therapists. A total of 26 individuals were classified as clinical controls; 27 as MCI patients; and 20 as having AD dementia. All individuals in the AD group had a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) ≤ 1.

Results:

Immediate recall was only able to distinguish AD subjects from MCI patients and clinical controls (p > 0.05). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that mental status (MMSE), semantic memory (WAIS-III vocabulary) and episodic memory (RAVLT primacy) explained approximately 62% of the variance in immediate recall.

Conclusions:

Understanding the value and limitations of immediate story recall in distinguishing between MCI and AD may help clinicians in better choosing cognitive tests to diagnose MCI.

Keywords

mild cognitive impairmentmemoryAlzheimer’s diseasestory memorylogical memoryaging
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 27 , Special Issue 10: Psychosocial and Ethical Aspects of Dementia , October 2015 , pp. 1679 - 1686
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2015 

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