The Relationship Between Subjective Memory Complaints and Objective Memory Performance, Depression and Anxiety Levels in Patients Under 55 Years of Age

Objective: Psychiatric differential diagnosis is often ignored in young patients with memory complaints, even if no neurological or physical illnesses were evident. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between subjective memory complaints and objective memory impairment, depression and anxiety levels in young patients with memory complaints. Method: The study was carried out with 56 patients under the age of 55 who applied to the psychiatry, neurology and internal medicine outpatient clinics with memory complaints and 55 healthy volunteers. All participants completed the Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire (SMCQ), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), the Benton Visual Memory Test (BVMT), the Digit Span Test (DST), the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Results: Significant differences were observed in the scores of SMCQ, MoCA, AVLT, BVMT, DST, VFT, BDI and BAI in individuals with memory complaints compared to the controls, which could not be ascribed to any neurological or physical disease. Depression and anxiety levels were significantly higher than those of the control group. Conclusion: Differential diagnosis of memory complaints has to be made in young patients. Subjective memory complaints may be indicative of depression and anxiety disorders. It is necessary to evaluate the cognitive impairment that may develop over time in young patients with subjective memory disturbances via longitudinal studies.